Past, Present and Future
by Word To The Wise
Summary: Percy Jackson, one of the most loved heroes of his time has been missing for over 1000 years. Annabeth Chase has spent practically every moment of these years searching for him. Now when a new threat rises to destroy both of their worlds will they finally meet? Or will it tear them apart for good? P.S. this is not a regular Chaos story, the plot is all original. Take my word for it
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! This is my first fanfic. Let me know what you think in the reviews. And you're probably thinking that first fanfic's are usually bad. I know some are… No offense! Only some though! But I hope this one is different. Now, on with the story! Yay! Fine, don't cheer with me…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. If I did, don't you think I'd be working on the House of Hades instead of this?**

Annabeth dragged herself to the annual Olympus meeting. At every one of these she became more and more discouraged and helpless; losing almost all of her hope. These said meetings were about her missing boyfriend, Percy Jackson. The Hero of Olympus has been gone for decades. It's like he fell off the face of the planet!

He left because Camp Half-Blood made the stupidest mistake of their lives. And they all regretted it horribly, but it was too late…

Now every Winter solstice the gods and immortal demigods, which was everyone that fought in the Titan and Giant wars, would meet up on Olympus to swap news about their lost hero. So far, they had nothing about his whereabouts. But that didn't lessen Annabeth's hopes that this was the day they would finally get a lead.

She knew he was out there somewhere; she could feel it. And she knew he wasn't dead since Nico and Hades checked daily for Percy's soul in the underworld. And of course, he wasn't there. But the fact that he was_ alive _gave her hope, though. She was determined to find him. No matter what, she will find him. Nothing will stand in her way. No crazy gods or Titans or monsters. Her mind has been set on this one goal for the past hundred years.

As Annabeth entered the elevator leading to the 600th floor in the Empire State building, she thought about all her friends who had turned immortal, like her. Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Nico, Thalia, Katie, Clarisse, Grover, Travis and Conner, Tyson, Chris, Will, Rachel, and everyone else who knew Percy well were all immortal. Well, Thalia was already immortal from being in the Hunters of Artemis.

When the gods first offered immortality, it was after they had just defeated Gaea and her giants. Of, course, Percy declined, _again._ Annabeth said no too, to be with Percy. Everyone else had their own reasons to turn the offer down. But after he disappeared, Zeus made the offer again. He said that Olympus couldn't afford to lose another hero. That had surprised everybody. Zeus would never admit that they needed the help of a mortal. But the gods needed experienced warriors if they had another war. (And Annabeth knew there would be more.)

At first they wanted to say no, but Annabeth realized that she could use her immortality to search for Percy. So when Annabeth accepted (shocking everybody), all of her friends did too. Does Annabeth regret her decision? No. She actually enjoyed watching the Earth change over time. But sometimes Annabeth thought watching it wasn't as fun without Percy. Gods, she missed him. She missed his lop-sided smile, his messy, raven-black hair, his personality. And she especially missed his sea-green eyes. They used to be just like the sea, defiant and always changing moods.

_Stop that, _Annabeth scolded herself. _You're not helping at all by thinking of him._ She tried to distract herself by thinking about architecture, but even that reminded her of Percy. Annabeth was glad when the elevator finally went _ding_ and it opened slowly.

Even though she has seen Olympus probably over a million times, the view still made her breath stop. It _was _breathtaking. She was so proud of herself. It took her awhile, but she had somehow managed to make it look more—what's the word?—Oh yeah; godly, if that was even possible. It's like she captured the true beauty of the gods' realm. She had a lot of help, though. Her mom helped at sometimes and even Percy helped. He had some pretty good ideas in that head of his. Now people praised her work. The effort really did pay off.

Annabeth made her way up to the doors and walked in. Her best friend, Thalia greeted when she stepped into the throne room.

"Hey Annie," said Thalia. Annabeth glared at her half-heartedly. "How are you feeling?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I'm fine." But the tone of her voice said otherwise.

"Don't worry Annabeth. I have a feeling today's going to be different. Trust me." She winked and went to sit at her mini throne next to Artemis's throne. Annabeth rolled her eyes then examined the room.

Everyone was there except Poseidon, but that was normal. Before a meeting, he would always take a stroll down the shores of Montauk to steady his emotions. These meetings were especially stressful to him, since they were about his missing son. Annabeth could tell the sea god was very tense during these meetings, even though he tried not to show it. Annabeth could understand his pain. It must've been pretty hard to go to these stupid meetings just to be told that his favorite son was _still _missing even after all this time. It was enough to drive the poor god mad.

Annabeth walked over to her own mini throne by her mother's. Her friends waved at her and smiled. Annabeth smiled in reply, but it didn't reach her eyes. As Poseidon flashed in everyone took their respective seats next to their parents.

Zeus cleared his throat and exclaimed, "Let's get straight business, shall we?" He paused, looking around the room solemnly. "Does anyone have any news about the whereabouts of Perseus Jackson?"

It was so quiet; you could hear a pin drop, until...

"I think I may have had a vision," said a tentative Rachel. Everyone turned to stare at her in surprise. Poseidon almost slipped off his throne in anticipation. No one had expected this.

Athena broke out of her trance first. "What was it?" she asked.

Rachel shifted under everyone's gaze. "Well, it was a little hard to understand, but I think we're supposed to send an Iris Message to him…"

Annabeth hesitated. She has done this so many times and all attempts had failed. What makes her think it's just supposed to work now?

But the demigods didn't think about it for a second.

"Quick! Who has a drachma?" shouted Jason. Everyone dug into their pockets.

"Here! I have one, but I was planning on using it later…" Leo said thoughtfully.

"Leo!" everyone yelled. Thalia went up to him and snatched the coin away. She them calmly walked over to Annabeth and handed it to her.

"Here, you could do the honors." She had her 'I told you so' look plastered on her face.

Annabeth swallowed and looked at Poseidon expectantly.

"I'm on it," he stated, making the vapor in the air turn to mist. Apollo proceeded to shine some sunlight through the mist, creating a rainbow.

Annabeth bit down on her anxiety and said, "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Percy at…wherever he is." The rainbow flickered and a small flame of doubt flickered in the pit of her stomach. Then the screen flashed off like a light bulb, crushing all of her hopes for the millionth time.

**Well, that's the first chapter! Congrats to me! Give me your opinions by the reviews and the title of this story will be figured out later. Let me know what you think the title should be. And if were wondering, yes, this is another Chaos story but this chapter is just a filler. But I hope it's different than others, even though that's what they all say. I'll probably update this weekend.**

**Until then~WTTW :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey chicas and chicos! I decided to update because…well, I felt like it. When I saw that I got like 55 views the first hour this was my expression: (o.O) Weird right? Anyway, congrats to willa R for being my first reviewer, I really appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. (DUH!)**

The immortals cried out in despair.

_No, _thought Annabeth. _We were _so_ close. I was certain that was going to work. What else can we try?_

As she was searching her brain for any new ideas, a black screen suddenly appeared where the failed Iris-message was a minute ago. She gasped, earning everyone's attention.

"What is _that_?" Nico asked no one in particular. All the demigods looked to the gods expectantly.

"We have no clue," Hera spoke honestly.

"Wait, something's happening," pointed out Frank.

It was true. The mist was shifting itself until a hooded figure appeared on the screen. The figure, which was obviously a man, was being directed towards a throne in a room that was much like Olympus itself. Two heavy armed soldiers were holding onto the man's wrists as a cop would a prisoner.

Everyone watched intently as the soldiers pushed down on the man's shoulders so he was kneeling before the throne where a woman was sitting. She had a long black cape with a gold trim draped around her broad shoulders. Her dark red hair was put up in an elegant bun with a diamond encrusted crown around it that seemed to shout, _I'm royalty. Bow down and tremble at my feet. _But the weirdest thing was that this woman had yellow eyes. Yellow; not gold, but a bright yellow. Annabeth had seen many strange eye colors in her years, but this was a little freaky. She has seen yellow eyes on monsters before, but never on people.

"Well, well, well, what brings you here, Perseus?" she said casually.

Everyone in the room drew in a sharp breath. "Perrrrcy!" bleated Grover. But none of the people gave away any signs that they had heard him.

"You know why I'm here, Yasmine. You know of the crimes you have committed," Percy said emotionlessly. Annabeth desperately wanted to reach into the screen and pull down his hood so she could see his eyes again, but she somehow knew that wouldn't work.

Percy continued, "We let you live because we thought you would be different from your father. But now, I guess, we were wrong. You're just as corrupted."

The woman—Yasmine—was fuming. "How _dare _you talk about my father that way? He was a wise and noble man!" By the tone of her voice, Annabeth could tell that Yasmine didn't believe the words she was saying. She was being more defensive than true.

Percy chuckled without humor, sending chills down Annabeth's spine. "How could you call that man noble? He was a murderer! Innocent lives were lost almost everyday because of him!"

"So you thought the best solution was to _kill _him? I saw the whole thing."

Percy softened. "It was the only option. He was too far gone and refused our offers. We had to."

"I could've helped him," she argued. "He would have listened to me…eventually. I could have changed his ways."

He shook his head. "No one could've helped him, that's the point. He even threatened the capitol with war. We couldn't allow that. And now you are ruling the same way as your father. You must step down from the throne."

Yasmine pretended to think. "Uh, no, I think I'll keep my rightful place on the throne, avenge my father, and send you to the dungeons. Guards!" In the blink of an eye, the guards next to Percy had their daggers drawn and was aiming towards his ribs.

"Percy, watch out!" shouted Hazel and many others. But they still didn't know if he heard.

Percy grabbed the dagger to his left and pulled, sending that man into the dagger of the man to his right and the right man into the left man's dagger. It all happened so fast that Annabeth couldn't even begin to comprehend the fact that Percy easily killed two men and she could tell that everyone else was shocked by this fact too.

"I thought I was going to the dungeons!" called Percy as Yasmine ran down the hall, desperate for escape.

"I lied!" was her reply.

He sighed and muttered, "Why do they always run?" Then he stealthily ran after her. Percy hid in the shadows, his footsteps making absolutely no sound, while Yasmine was in plain sight, her clumsy steps echoing and noisy. Then, they lost sight of Percy.

"Where did he go?" wondered Katie. The others just shook their heads in confusion.

"It looked almost like he was shadow traveling," Nico murmured thoughtfully.

"But how could he do that? He's not even a son of Hades!" Annabeth said, hating the fact that she didn't know what was happening. No one had an answer.

They watched silently as Yasmine ran into an old safe house. Before she closed the door, she peeked outside and looked for Percy. Seeing that he wasn't anywhere in sight, she smirked and shut the door gently.

"Finally. Safe and sou—," she stopped abruptly.

Percy was lying on a couch, casually playing with a slinky. Annabeth wanted to know where he got a stupid slinky, but she also wanted to know how he got there before Yasmine.

"Miss me?" he asked cheekily. Annabeth rolled her eyes. It was just like her Seaweed Brain to say something like that at a time like this.

"Wha—how did—," she stammered. She then turned around and yanked the doorknob desperately, but it was locked. She cursed then slowly turned to face Percy.

"I'm going to die now, aren't I?" she stated sadly. "This is going to ruin my whole day."

He sat criss-crossed with his head cocked. "And why are you going to die?"

Yasmine looked at him as if he grew a second head, as did the gods and demigods. "Isn't that whole reason why you chased me in here? To kill me?"

He just stared at her. "I don't know, is it? Why would I kill you?"

Now she looked mad. "Because I'm a horrible ruler! You were right; I was becoming my father and that scared me." She paused, trying to control her breathing while Percy was patiently waiting for her to continue. "When my father was assassinated by one of your own all I felt was pointless grief…" she trailed off.

"Keep going," said Percy softly.

"I don't know why I felt so bad after his death. He was a _horrible_ father; just another one of those_ traitors_. He paid people to be my friends and like me. He had tried to buy my love with jewels and gems; he nevercared about me or my happiness. All he wanted was for me to obey. And when I didn't…" She shuddered with tears and pain visible in her eyes. "I guess when he died, I just felt so alone since he was my only family. And I had no real friends. There was nothing left for me in the world. You know what my father's last words to me were? They were: 'Avenge me. And do not disappoint.' Maybe those words gave me new hope or a new goal in life. I thought I could finally win his love by doing this one simple favor, but I grew terribly bitter and twisted, just like him. I did horrible things that I am not proud of, and believe you me, if I could go back and change everything, I would. Which leads us to now, where I'm about to be murdered just like my father," she finished bitterly.

Annabeth couldn't believe her ears. How could a father do that stuff to their own daughter? Annabeth once had a bad relationship with her father, but it was nothing compared to this. How could Yasmine live like that for so long? Any bad thoughts Annabeth had toward her was long gone and replaced with sympathy and pity. And by the looks of it, so did everyone else. No one deserved that kind of childhood.

Yasmine looked so fragile right then, with a few tears threatening to escape, but she seemed much more at peace; as if all the weight has been lifted off her shoulders. It looked like she's wanted to burst like this for awhile now and it also looked like she was trying to stay strong and not cry, but any minute the dam was going to break.

Percy stood up from his spot on the couch and Yasmine braced herself, but all he did was open his arms in a silent invitation. The poor girl didn't even hesitate. She threw herself into him, welcoming the embrace, and cried heart-aching sobs full of pain and misery onto his shoulder. He hugged her tight and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

Annabeth had a quick flash back of the day when she had been assigned a quest to go through the Labyrinth. She had been under a lot of stress that day. When Percy walked into here cabin almost all her worries melted and she opened her arms for a hug the exact way Percy had with Yasmine, except no crying was involved.

In the pit of her stomach, she felt the slightest bit of jealousy. She knew that it was selfish because the girl really deserved a hug, but still. She couldn't help but wish it was her in her Seaweed Brains arms. But after all she had seen she doesn't know if she could even call him that anymore. He seemed even more confident and collected, as if he had seen it all. _And who knows,_ she thought,_ maybe he has. _

Her train of thought was interrupted by Percy speaking

"If it helps, you should know that you passed."

"Passed what?" she croaked.

"When I am sent on these missions," he started, "I try to get that person to feel remorse and convince them what they had done was wrong. This is rare since most were a failed hope, like your father for example. But you; you surprised me. I didn't give up hope on you from the start because I knew you had good in you. But your openness really surprised me."

Yasmine gave short chuckle. "It surprised me too, really. I thought I was going to die, and I couldn't die with all that guilt." Percy nodded in understanding. "All those betrayals and lies really changed me for the worst," she murmured sadly.

"I know how it feels," Percy whispered.

Annabeth winced. The pain was as clear as day in his voice, and she hated to be reminded of what happened. Their biggest mistake…

**Done! Finally, took me forever to write this one simple chapter! Sorry for the immensely long paragraph and sorry if you didn't really understand it. I had no clue where I was going with this chapter or how I was going to end it.**

**Also, I have an ****important**** question. I'm looking for one of my favorite stories, but I can't really remember the name. It's where Percy dies to save Annabeth in the Giant war and she tries to make a magic potion to bring him back, but instead she brings back Luke. Then Percy goes to the River Lithe to forget the betrayal. But before he could dip his head, Chaos (who's a woman) stops him and asks him to become her Assassin because her other one died and Percy accepts.**

**Anyone who knows this story's name or if it had been discontinued, please tell me with the reviews. Thank you so much!**

**Until next time my fellow fanfictioners! ~ WTTW ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! So how was your day? Really, mine too! Haha, I sound like Dora. Ugh, I'm certainly not going to be doing_ that _again… Anyway, I hope you had a better Halloween than I did. Nothing went right this year, but I shouldn't depress you with all this information. Oh, and for now, instead of updating weekly, I'll be updating monthly. I need to start studying for school more even though I'm getting good grades. It's just that I'm in all the gate and honors classes and I need to keep those grades up in order to stay in my club…Sorry. I promise I won't forget this story; I could never forget about it. I PROMISE I'll update once every month (unless I'm in a good mood and decide to update twice ) and it'll probably be at the last week of the month. Okay, thanks for letting me ramble!**

**DISCLAIMER: If I was Rick Riordan, I wouldn't have ended The Mark Of Athena with such a cliffhanger of Percy and Annabeth falling into _freaking Tartarus_. Okay, maybe I would have…Mwahahahahahaha!**

"I feel so bad," said a miserable looking Hazel. Several nodded in agreement.

"That poor girl," Artemis said. "No female deserves that." Many agreed.

"Guys, I'm pretty anyone with a heart would feel bad for her," Jason pointed out, "but we need to focus on Percy."

"You're right, Jason. Has anyone heard exactly where they're location is yet?" inquired Zeus.

"Not yet. But I don't know anywhere on Earth that has a government like this. None with a ruler like this," Athena said thoughtfully.

"I've never seen eyes like that either," Piper piped in. **(See what I did there? ;)**

"Could it be somewhere the gods' don't know of?" Annabeth wondered.

Athena shook her head. "I do not think so. We know everything about this planet. And I sense greater magic at work."

"Greater magic? It's not another camp that you've been hiding from us, is it?" Leo asked warily.

Annabeth watched in amusement as the gods had to think about it before answering with a shake of their heads.

"It couldn't be. There are no other _camps_," Hera said carefully. The way she said that made Annabeth uneasy, but she decided to get back to it later. Right now, they all had to focus on finding Percy.

"If it isn't anywhere on this planet, that you know of, then where could it be? _Mars_?" remarked Thalia. No one commented because for all they know, it _could_ be Mars.

Everyone turned back to the screen.

Yasmine pulled back from the hug and stared disbelievingly at his hooded face. "You have?"

Percy nodded slowly. "I have."

Yasmine looked at him long and hard. When she seemed to realize that he was telling the truth, her expression saddened even more. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "It really does hurt." Again, he nodded.

He took in a shaky breath then said, "The past is the past. Now, let's talk about your future."

Yasmine gave him a sideways glance. "So…You aren't going to kill me?"

Even though she couldn't see it, she knew Percy rolled his eyes. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have already. Besides, you passed the test, remember?"

"And what does passing this test mean, exactly?"

"I could give you another chance at life at life."

Her eyes practically bugged out of her head. And Annabeth would've laughed, if she wasn't so curious on how he could do that.

"How?" she gasped.

"I could let you join our army and become a citizen to our city. There, you could right your wrongs by helping the universe."

"Like you?"

Percy hesitated. "Yes, but my job is a little bit more complex in some ways. And, if you want, I could even erase your memories of your first life and give you a whole new identity; start out fresh.

Yasmine thought about the offer for a moment, and then started to slowly shake her head. "That is a wonderful offer, but I must say no." He looked at her, confused.

"I _would _like to start off fresh, but not like that."

"Explain please."

"I would like to start my rule over. Please, give me a second chance; I'll be a completely new queen! I'll get rid of my harsh punishments and laws. I'll lessen the taxes and give money to the poor _and _the schools. I'll be anything but my father! Please—"

"Relax." He paused to think about her decision. Annabeth hoped he would let her. She believed Yasmine could change. "All right. I'll let this go _only_ because I did my job. I got someone to feel remorse and change their ways. And congratulations, you are the first to accomplish this in many, many, _many_, years. I respect your decision and trust that you will keep your promises." The proud in his voice was obvious to Annabeth.

Yasmine nodded her head vigorously. "Oh yes! I will!"

He smiled. "Good. I hope you don't mind me checking in on your progress every once in awhile."

"Of course I don't!"

He reached into the pocket of his hood and pulled out something that looked like a remote controller but with less buttons and less difficult. "Here, take this. Just press the big blue button on the top if you need me or my men."

Annabeth noticed that Yasmine seemed to be at loss for words. Her eyes shined with gratitude. She threw her arms around his shoulders and gives him a big hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

Percy looked shocked at first then gave her one last hug. "Good bye for now, Queen Yasmine."

The queen gave him a big smile then turned to leave.

When she was gone Percy sighed. "Too bad. She would have been a good strategist." He lazily flicked his wrist and a black tear opened up in the air next up. It looked like someone slashed the dimensions with a really strong sword.

"Whoa!" shouted Conner. "How did he do that? Can we do that? Is it only a Poseidon thing or something?"

Poseidon shook his head. "No. That is definitely_ not _a trait of my children."

"Then what was it?" asked Chris. Again, no one had an answer.

Percy stepped into the tear and vanished from the immortals' sights. For a scary moment, the screen lost a connection and it went blank. Panic welled up inside Annabeth. They _couldn't _lose connection now. They were so close for the first time since…well, _ever_. Annabeth had to find out exactly where Percy has been hiding over all these years. And she _will _find out. With all of her will-power she begged for the screen to fix itself.

The screen spluttered back to life with a loud _pop._

It actually worked. _Wow,_ thought Annabeth. _Guess I got lucky there._

He was walking with quick and precise steps and a tense expression. He looked over his shoulders many times before entering a city that mad many of them gasp. The buildings were amazing with wonderful architecture. Houses, shops and markets were scattered around the city, in a way that should've looked messy but surprisingly wasn't. They were all modern looking with their own personal style. Some resembled Greek and Roman architecture while others had Arabic and Egyptian designs. Again, it should have looked messy, but it seemed to bring the city into place.

Annabeth finally noticed all the people strolling through the streets. They all wore peaceful and care-free expressions. She then saw a group of teenagers at a nearby café, talking and laughing and just having a good time, like normal teenagers would. Annabeth felt bitter all of a sudden; she never really got to experience a normal childhood. It always felt like she was stuck with carrying the world on her shoulders (and she knew what _that _felt like) and only Percy could free her from her eternal prison.

_Percy._

She had lost him way too many times. First, she thought she had lost him during their quest in the Labyrinth when he blew up that mountain to save her. Then when she thought he was going to die during the Titan war. Next was when Hera snatched him from his home and gave him to the Romans. And finally in Tartarus she thought they were going to lose each other way too many times. And now, he disappeared of the face of the Earth.

And all these facts made Annabeth unsettled.

_It's as if the Fates never wanted us to be together, _she thought miserably. _What I if find him; then he just goes missing _again._ Would my heart be able to take it anymore?_

_Probably not, _said another part of her. _He would want you to move on. It looks like he had already accomplished that himself._

This was true. He looked like he had moved on by the way he acted earlier; so calm and free. Like nothing bothered him. But now, Annabeth could tell something was wrong by his tense figure. Percy looked very nervous and anxious. For what, Annabeth had no clue.

One of the teenagers had noticed Percy walk by and excused herself. She jogged over to Percy with a broad smile.

"Hey Perce. How was the mission?" she asked. Percy didn't reply and just kept walking briskly.

"Uh oh. You have the 'I'm serious' look. What's wrong?"

"I don't know—" The sound of crying interrupted him.

A little girl that couldn't have been more than five was crying on a bench next to a beautiful tree in the middle city. The tree really caught Annabeth's eye. It had midnight black leaves with exotic white flowers in the shape of stars all over it. The tree itself seemed to be putting off a certain reflective glow. Any fool could tell this tree was the city's pride and joy.

Anyway, Percy strolled over to the little girl and sat next to her. The girl glanced at her with a tearstained face. Annabeth could see a small cut on her elbow that might've been the cause to her crying. Percy gave her a warm smile and carefully placed the palm of his hand over the cut. The immortals stared in awe as the cut magically healed itself.

The child gaped and stretched her elbow, testing its strength. Percy then plucked a flower from the tree next to them and placed it behind her ear. The flower multiplied and she soon had a crown of flowers on her head. Next, he gently poked the girl in the stomach making her fall into a fit of giggles.

Everyone watched this with warm smiles. This was Annabeth's Seaweed Brain. Always willing to help in any way he could. She always loved this about him. His caring and compassion personality made him a very easy person to talk to and befriend.

"Tank you, mishtor," said the girl as she gave him a hug.

"No problem," he replied. "Now, you should find mommy and daddy before it gets dark. All right?"

She nodded and slipped from her spot on the bench, waving to her 'savior' until she was completely out of sight.

The teenager he was talking to earlier came to sit next to him. "Wow. That was so sweet."

Being the modest person he was, he just shrugged and said, "It was nothing."

"No, really. That reminds me of when you rescued me. You are too nice for your own good ya know?"

"I've been told that before," he muttered. "Seeing her sad upset me. This is my city, I can't have people unhappy."

"Percy, you know you can't help everyone, right?"

He sighed. "Of course I know that. But I'll help my people in any way if it is within my power; and it was. Besides, I couldn't have just let her sit there and cry, now could I? That would've made me a horrible person."

"That loyalty you have is going to be the death of you."

Percy winced. "It already has," he whispered. He smiled sadly as a couple walked by, hand in hand. Annabeth's stomach twisted at the sight. That was once her and Percy, walking down Camp Half-Blood's beach.

The teen looked at him for a minute before changing the subject. "So what was wrong earlier?"

Percy sat up straight and quickly stood up. "Beatrix, is my father any better? Have they found a cure yet?"

Annabeth turned around to look at Poseidon, as did many others.

"I have no idea…" the sea god mumbled. "I'm fine."

Percy didn't even wait for Beatrix's answer. He sprinted off in the other direction, with Beatrix hot on his heels.

And for what felt like the umpteenth time, the screen turned blank. Immediately, shouting was heard all over Olympus.

"Fix it!" shouted one.

"Hurry!" yelled another.

"Perrrrcy!"

"Where the Hades is that punk?"

"Hey! I take offense to that, you undeserving demigod."

"What does he mean by _father_?"

"More wine!"

"Shut up, you old sot!"

Everyone continued to argue with one another until thunder shook the building.

"Quiet!" boomed Zeus. "Just make another Iris Message. Who has another—?"

Suddenly the screen flashed back on, scaring the wits out of everyone near to it.

**And there's chapter 3! And they said I couldn't do it…Please, reviews mean the world to me! And remember, I won't update for a month, so mark your calendars!**

**And I decided to make this chapter extra long was because of my new update schedule. 2,314 words including the A/N! Yay! Pm me if you have any suggestions because I have no clue where I am going with this… I really need to find a better way to end my chapters…**

**See ya later.**

**~WTTW _ I love this face because it looks seriously constipated. Hahahahaha! It's the face of the day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Like I promised. It's the last week of the month…sorta. Eh, I couldn't wait any longer to update this and I had free time so, yeah. Now you can sit back and enjoy—wait. I forgot to mention the name change. I told you I'd change the name! Ha! I like this name better because it seems more compelling and double for the summary. Tell me your thoughts on them. Please? Anyways…Oh! I also noticed how in my last chapter, the face of the week was just _ I was really confused on why it didn't show, but for those of you who didn't know what the constipated man looked it was: (_) And if it didn't show again then it looked like this: ( _ ) but closer together. And if _that_ didn't show…well, then I guess we'll never know what a constipated man looks like, huh?**

**Disclaimer: I _am_ Rick Riordan! (Gasp!) Are you kidding me FF? Even if I was really Rick, do you think that I would actually admit it? Hmmmm?**

Annabeth felt really annoyed. She hated how the screen would vanish then eventually come back on. **(I **_**do**_** do that too much, don't I?) **It was like it was testing them. Like it was saying, _I'm just gonna switch off randomly so I could amuse myself by watching you scream and argue. Now, I'm going to switch back on to see you practically pee your pants! Ha, ten points if the satyr pees! How fun! _Annabeth mentally shook herself. She was thinking some seriously crazy thoughts. Maybe it was to even out with all the confused thoughts in her head.

Poseidon leaned forward in his seat. Annabeth could tell he was anxious to find out who this 'father' was. It must've been hard to hear he was replaced. But Annabeth was jumping to conclusions too quickly. This 'father' could have been like a nickname for someone close to Percy. Or even his real name, but that seemed unlikely to her. She'll just have to wait and see.

The image on the screen showed Beatrix and Percy running down a whole and through a grand door. Annabeth couldn't exactly take in their surroundings and make out where they really were because they were running too fast. She's never seen Percy run that fast before.

After they were through the door, Percy rushed over to a sickly man sitting upright on a bed. The man had his eyes closed and looked as if he were meditating. Percy kneeled at his bedside. He had silvery white hair (not the old-age type color) and was extremely pale. He looked incredibly skinny, with his hollowed cheeks. His dark beard was unkempt and messy. Even with his sick appearance, Annabeth could tell he was wise, kind, and hearty, but can be responsible and strict at times.

"Calm, my child," he said in a very Chiron-like manner. "What's the trouble?"

"I came to check on you. Are you okay? I can feel the city's energy slowly draining," Percy said worriedly.

The man chuckled. "I am fine, Perseus. How was the mission?"

"Queen Yasmine has declined our offer."

"So you disposed of her?"

"Well…no. She had promised to change her ways and become a true queen of Margadarin. **(Marge-a-dare-in)** She wanted a second chance and I believed she could change so I agreed."

He nodded. "I see. I believe she can become a good ally in the future. Good choice." He turned to Beatrix who was spinning absentmindedly in a chair. "Any news on the whereabouts of Venom, Miss Beatrix?"

Beatrix was startled by her name suddenly being called and fell out of her chair. Percy snickered and she sent a half-hearted glare his way. By the way Percy and Beatrix acted around each other; Annabeth could tell that they had a strong brother-sister bond. Nothing beyond the brother and sister relationship was certain.

She coughed before answering, "No sir. The strategists and navigators in Sector 3 are still trying to pinpoint an exact location."

He nodded tiredly. "You two must see to it that he and his posse are captured. We can not have them running around the universe causing disorder."

"Sir, if I may ask, what was in their poison that we should be weary of?"

The man sighed and opened his eyes reluctantly. "I have a theory, but I shouldn't tell. We must find a remedy before they start infecting citizens left and right. I have never experienced this amount of pain before in all my years and I'm afraid if Venom tried this on any lesser being, it would bring them to a slow and painful death."

"So you will be okay?" Percy asked hopefully.

"It will take a little more than unfinished poison to kill me, son."

"Unfinished?"

The man paused and stared at him for a good long while before saying, his eyes never leaving Percy, "Beatrix, could you please excuse Percy and me for a moment. There are new trainees in the arena waiting for their sword fighting lesson." She looked confused and concerned, but slowly nodded. With one final glance at Percy, she left.

"Why did you need to speak to me alone?" Percy wondered.

"Percy, I have to tell you something that you will not repeat to another soul until I deem it necessary. Understand?" Percy nodded, looking extremely curious. "Years before you existed, my companion and I were trying to create a cure for a deadly disease that was rapidly spreading amongst our people. We tested it out on a volunteering human. That human was Venom. Of course, it went terribly wrong. First, he became severely ill, and then he started hallucinating. Finally, when we thought he was finally cured…he destroyed half the city in half an hour."

"What happened next?" Percy asked as if he was a six year old, listening to one of his favorite bedtime stories.

"I had to banish him."

"Woah," he breathed.

The man chuckled at Percy's antics. "Yes, woah. Now, when we tested the solution on Venom, it was unfinished. We were missing two critical ingredients that really could have changed our results for better or for worse. I wasn't about to take that risk and refused to put them in our formula. Only Venom and I knew what those ingredients were and he had agreed beforehand that the danger was too much to risk."

"What were these ingredients? How were they dangerous?"

"They were both extremely valuable. It was sap from Nyx's Night tree and a very special gem I had hidden deep beneath earth's crust. And there is no doubt in my mind that Venom's forces will search Earth first for the gem."

A chill was sent down Annabeth's spine as the strange man spoke these words.

"Okay," Percy said, "so where is the gem exactly? We should set up our troops on earth and make allies before the enemy gets it."

"You're not going to like the answer, Percy, but it moves with Western civilization…"

Annabeth gasped. Did that mean…?

Realization dawned on Percy's face. "Oh…you mean—oh."

"And you are right," the man continued meaningfully. "We do need allies and to set up troops."

"Oh. Oh, no. Chaos, I-I'm not ready. I-I can't."

The name Chaos sent more shivers down Annabeth's spine.

"Perseus, I'm sure you're ready. And I think _they _are too." He proceeded to flick his wrist and pointed towards Annabeth's direction.

"Wait, wha—?"

Suddenly, Annabeth had a strange urge to call out his name. She had no idea where the urge came from, but she gave in and called, "Percy?"

Said person immediately stiffened. After a moment of tense silence, Percy turned to the mysterious man—Chaos? "How long?"

"Since the mission…It's time."

Percy shook his head but still turned to look at everyone in the throne room. "Hi guys," he said reluctantly.

Thalia exploded. **(NOT LITERALLY, YOU CRAZIES!) **"Where have you been? Do you know how worried everyone was when you disappeared? You didn't even leave a note!" She continued to ramble like this for quite some time; Annabeth almost forgot what she was yelling about.

As Thalia paused to catch her breath, Percy butted in. "I missed you too, Thalia."

She immediately softened and plopped back in her mini throne, mumbling to herself.

"Perseus… is that really you?" asked an anxious Poseidon.

"Yeah, it's me."

The next thing Annabeth knows, everyone was yelling and screaming their questions all at once. It got_ really_ annoying _really_ fast. She groaned and looked at Percy again, who seemed very uncomfortable. He kept flinching away. So, she decided to end it. She walked up to Thalia, who was holding her hands over her ears, and asked if she could do a favor; after prying her hands off her ears of course. Thalia grinned and nodded. The daughter of Zeus stepped up and rubbed her hands together before clapping them. The sound was as loud as thunder itself and shook the building. Yeah, each demigod had seemed to discover a new power after Percy left. And the one Thalia had used was one of them; the one that Annabeth had named 'Thunderclap.'

"Shut up," Thalia said plainly.

Percy chuckled. "Geez, I could hear that from all the way over here."

"Where have you been?" Grover asked.

He stared at him blankly. "Here." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

_Same old Seaweed Brain._

"You know what I mean!"

Percy sighed, "I've been in the Void, protecting the universe. It is my job as Chaos's assassin."

_Assassin? _Annabeth wondered. She voiced her thoughts.

"Yes. You know, the ones who have to kill to either start wars or prevent them."

"I know that. It's just that it seems so unlike you to become an assassin."

Percy shrugged. "I like it. Sometimes it gets depressing, but most of the time, I feel a sense of accomplishment."

"In killing people?" Leo asked innocently while tinkering with some metal and gears he took from his pocket.

"No, not in _killing _people. It's complicated and I don't really want to get into it. Next question please?"

"When you said 'Chaos' do you mean _the _Chaos?" wondered Artemis.

Percy opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by violent coughing. It was coming from the man called Chaos. On Percy's side of the Iris Message, the lights turned off then turned back on, all in one second.

"What was that?" Jason asked.

"Uh," Percy stated, worriedly glancing at the still coughing man. "Listen, I really have to go now."

"What? No!" Annabeth called desperately. "There's still so much we have to talk about."

Percy stared at her sadly. "Sorry, Annabeth. I _really _have to go. This is draining too much of his power."

"Percy, don't leave me again," she whispered. She knows she probably sounded and looked vulnerable, but she did not want him to go too soon.

"Annabeth…" he said slowly, as if savoring the word. "I promise we'll see each other again real soon. I promise you. Goodbye, Wise Girl."

Annabeth's heart twisted. That was last thing he said to her the day he went missing. "Goodbye, Seaweed Brain." She smiled sorrowfully.

Soon Percy's image disappeared, taking her heart with her; but not her hopes, because she knew that Percy would keep his promise and they'll see each other again soon.

**Okay! So this is kinda short, but I liked it. A lot happened in this chapter, and I'm quite proud of it. Poor Annabeth, will she and Percy _ever_ get back together? Even I don't know! :P**

**Please review, I'm always open to ideas and let me know what you think of the new title and summary. I think I might update a couple more chapters, since I'm feeling so generous, but only after I go to Target. (SPONSOR) Whoever can guess _correctly _on where I got that from; I'll answer any question you have that involves this story. Hint: it involves videogames ;) Good luck!**

**And thanks for all the reviews I have so far. **

**Yours truly ~WTTW :03 face of the week! LOL, it looks like a misshapen lion. (I hope it shows) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey. Back from Target! (Sponsor!) ;)**

**To Black Roses1228: Oh my gosh! I didn't even think of that! I love Harry Potter so I guess I must've subconsciously written it. Awesome!**

This is in Percy's P.O.V

As soon as the connection died, Percy turned to his father.

"I told you it took up too much of your energy!"

Chaos settled his coughing fit and sighed. "I'm sorry. But they had to see."

"When I had joined you said I could forget about the past and move on; start a new life. Why would you bring my past back to me?"

"Percy, did you ever _really _forget about your true family?"

Percy looked down, refusing to meet his eyes. "No, I have not forgotten about them. How could I? Even after all these years I can still feel some of my loyalty connected to them. But the past is the past, right? I should just move on," he said miserably.

"You're wrong Perseus; the past is not just the past." Percy looked at him questionably. "Think about it. Our past, present and future are all connected in a way. Our past was once the present and future. It can affect our thoughts and opinions. Present, which was once the future, will always become the past. The future will eventually become the present, and will also then lead to the past. Do you see what I mean?"

"Not really, sir," Percy spoke honestly.

"Your future and present are always affected from the past. It always leads back to the _past_."

Percy thought about it before replying, "So, basically you're saying that my past will always catch up to me and bite me in the butt. That there is no running from it."

"In a sense. But, why run away from the past, when you can learn from it?"

He pondered Chaos's wise words. "I think I understand now. Thank you."

Chaos smiled kindly. "Anytime, son; now why don't you get Beatrix and head over to the training area. I'm sure the trainees are becoming impatient."

He smirked. He knew she would be too stubborn to leave.

He stood up and said a farewell to his father before exiting through the doors, only to find Beatrix with her ear pressed against it. She jumped back, startled and started blushing.

"Uh-huh, cough,…so, what's up brother? Anything new with your life? Hmmm?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Stop acting innocent. You do know that the walls are sound-proof, right?"

"Acting? Who's acting?" She speed-walked down the hall, with Percy close behind.

"You're thirty minutes late for training," stated Percy. "You really have to stop procrastinating."

She scoffed. "I do not _procrastinate_. You're crazy!"

He just chuckled and they continued to walk out of the palace. As they strolled through their private garden, Percy's thoughts wandered back to his past life. He couldn't get Annabeth's discouraged expression, from when he said he had to go, out of his head. Over the years he had been secretly watching over his family, unknown by them. He was there at Jason and Piper's wedding, and he was there when his mother died. He could remember those events clearly.

Piper looked stunning in her pearl-white gown (Aphrodite picked it out herself!) and Jason looked like an idiot when his jaw dropped. And his mother…it was hard to see her go. Percy had known that his mother's dieing wish was to see her son last time, so he decided to give her exactly that.

_ Percy walked through the familiar halls of his old apartment, saddened by how long it has been. He took a deep breath and opened the door to their old apartment. Even after all this time, Percy could smell the sweet sense of freshly baked cookies. He headed towards his mothers room and slowly opened the creaky door._

_ The elderly Sally Jackson stirred in her sleep. "Paul, is that you?" Percy frowned. Paul had died a few years earlier._

_ "No, mom…" Sally's eyes flew open and she turned to stare at the person standing in the doorway. Percy was sad to see how much his loved mother had aged. Her hair was silvery white and wrinkles layered around her eyes and mouth._

_ She gasped and stuttered, "W-who are you?"_

_ Percy crouched by her bedside and grasped her withered hand gently. She was too weak to pull away. "It's me; Percy."_

_ She stared at him for a long time. "Percy's been missing for years. Tell me something only Percy would know," she demanded._

_ He thought about it before finally coming with the perfect one. "When I was little, you and Smelly Gabe had an argument about blue food being possible. Just to prove him wrong, you tried to make everything you made blue."_

_ Sally gasped again and squeezed his hand. "Percy, my baby." With all the strength she could muster, she lifted herself into a sitting position and threw her arms around her son. Percy quickly hugged her back with the same amount of eagerness._

_ She slowly pulled back and brought her hands to her cup his cheek. Then, before he could object, she pulled down his hood. She stared in horror at the sight._

_ "Oh, Percy, what happened to you?"_

_ "Nothing, mom. It was a long time ago. Don't worry about it." Sally studied him before sighing in defeat._

_ "I can feel you're not going to crack. Alright, where have you been?"_

_ So Percy told her all about what has happened over the years where he has been. Sally was a good listener, she took everything in quietly._

_ "Oh, Percy, I'm so sorry. I can't believe it. You should have just come back home; we wouldn't have minded at all."_

_ "I couldn't risk you guys getting attacked by monsters constantly just because of my _scent_. If you got hurt, I wouldn't have been able to live with the guilt of it being my entire fault."_

_ "But—Percy—," she said, her voice hoarse. She seemed to give up on whatever she was saying and said instead, "I love you, honey. Thank you for coming to visit me before I died. Never forget where you came from, Percy. I love you so, so much."_

_ "I love you too mom." He had to hold back a sob as she lay back down on her bed. Her life force was draining faster than he'd expected. "I won't forget, I promise. Love you." With a smile gracing her features, making her look younger, she took her last breath and closed her eyes. Percy had left a few minutes later when he finally stopped crying._

"Percy?" Beatrix shouted in his face. "Is there anyone in there? Hello?"

He blinked before asking, "What?"

Her gaze turned concerned. "Was that another flashback? What was it about?"

"My mom's death." Percy's been having these flashbacks; very muck like Hazel had been, all those years ago. But his was less constant and very rare. He's only told Beatrix and Chaos about it.

Beatrix nodded slowly. "Should we tell Chaos that they are starting again?"

"No, I'll be fine. C'mon." He held the arena door open for her.

A strange sight was waiting for them.

The trainees were all knocked out on the floor.

"What the—who did this?" Beatrix cried out. A rustling came from the left and a little boy that couldn't have been more than eight, appeared.

"We were just training," he mumbled.

Percy stared at the boy in shock. "Prince, did you touch any of the weapons? And what are you doing in here; you're too young to be training."

Prince looked anywhere but at him. "I may have touched the boomythingy. All I did was touch the button, I swear, and the next thing I know, they're all on the floor…"

Percy walked up to prince and kneeled so they were level. "I thought you had orders to stay in our room as punishment for raiding the kitchens."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I really wanted to be like you and train. So I came here…and, well, I think you know what happened next."

He nodded and scoped the arena. This boy never ceased to amaze him. About three years ago, Percy was sent on a mission to spy on an enemy base. During this time, he found a five year old boy, being held captive. Of course, Percy helped him. Ever since then, Prince has treated Percy like a father; Percy treated him like his son.

Prince reminded Percy of him when he was younger; a rebel, trustworthy, not so responsible, and a whole lot of other pros and cons. The boy had straight dusty-blond hair with just a bit of freckles spread across his nose. But the most unique feature the boy possessed was his ability to feel emotions and his ever-changing eyes. Not kaleidoscope eyes like Piper had, but actual color changing. They'd go from light pink to royal blue to a soft green in only a couple of seconds. Prince told him they reflected the emotions of people around him. Right now, they were a light sky blue; peaceful. Percy guessed it was because of all the passed out soldiers that were currently around them.

"Prince, I'll take you back to our room. We should probably go before the servants start spreading rumors. You don't want to be caught up in _that_, trust me." He turned to Beatrix who was currently drawing on the face of a passed out dude with a sharpie that could have come from anywhere. "Trixie, you stay here and try to wake up the trainees while I take Prince back to our room."

She saluted and said, "Sir, yes, sir!"

Percy decided to play along. "Now drop and give me two-thousand, and don't stop 'til you scream!"

Again, she saluted and then clumsily dropped to her knees. She counted, "One, two, three, and four…" She dropped on her stomach after she got to ten. "Am I done?"

"Did any of those numbers sound like two-thousand to you?" Percy teased.

"Yes, yes they did."

Percy laughed and said, "See you later, Trixie."

"C'ya, Perce."

A couple minutes later, Prince and Percy were entering their room in the palace. They shared a room because Prince didn't want to be separated from Percy and visa versa. They had a giant room in the Void's castle. It was a perk for being Chaos's son. The room was probably the size of two apartments with two bathrooms, three and a half bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room; even a little office for Percy's work. When he had first gotten this little suite, Percy was excited. Then after awhile he began to feel lonely; then Prince came. Prince seemed to fill up all the holes in his loneliness.

Prince was tugging on his sleeve. Percy looked into his now soft pink eyes. "Do you have to leave now?" he pouted. Percy looked at the clock hanging over the fireplace. He didn't have any missions or jobs to do.

"No, I'm going to stay here with you, kiddo." Prince beamed and bounced to the couch by the fireplace. Percy followed and sat in the single arm chair next to it. Over the past hours, they rambled on about random subjects, nothing really important, just enjoying each others company. Then Prince got unnaturally silent.

"What's wrong, Prince?"

The boy hesitated. "What happened to you that made you join Grandpa Chaos?" He saw Percy stiffen and said, "You don't have to tell me. It was a stupid question—,"

"No, Prince, it's okay. What made you think of that question?"

He reluctantly said, "When I was in the arena, I overheard the trainees say that Grandpa Chaos had adopted you. They said that something really tragic happened in your life that made him want to take you in. I was wondering what it was, but again, it's not my business! I shouldn't butt in your personal life."

Percy was quiet for a moment. He hasn't told anyone his story besides Chaos. He's told Beatrix some, but not all. But if he couldn't trust Prince, there was no one he could trust. "It's a long story. It all started on a planet called Earth."

"You've been to planet Earth? Wow!" the kid exclaimed excitedly.

"Not only have I been there, I was _born _there." He laughed at the awed boy's bug-eyed expression. "It started when I was twelve. I had a semi-normal life with my mother and horrible step-father, Smelly Gabe. I was a troubled kid with dyslexia and ADHD and I didn't think my life could get any worse from there…" Percy continued to explain his past life and watched as the boy got more and more interested in his story. After he finished the battle with Gaea, he stopped to let everything sink in. Prince didn't interrupt once.

"You fell into Tartarus for a girl? You must have really loved her."

Percy winced. "I did."

"Your life seemed to go great after the war. What happened?"

At that question Percy felt himself slipping away in memories.

_ Percy was walking the shores of Camp Half-Blood to clear his mind. Lately, he's been feeling a little left out._

_ A couple months ago, a kid named Dustin was claimed as a son of Ares. He was big and burly like any other son of Ares, but he seemed to stand out from the rest. He was nicer and less rude. He was helpful and not selfish. Plus, as a bonus, he was a great friend._

_ And Percy didn't trust him._

_ For some reason, whenever Percy was near the guy, it always felt forced and fake. This made him real uneasy. One day Percy was teaching him sword techniques by sparring and Dustin totally whooped his butt. They were equally matched but it was Dustin who overpowered him when he swiped Percy off his feet. The kid was powerful; he had a certain aura around him that could match a god's._

_ It wasn't long before Dustin was offered a secret solo quest that not even Chiron knew about. When someone asked where he went, the centaur would just shake his head. Dustin was found two weeks later, fighting a drakon at the border._

_ The campers had immediately rushed in to help. But before anyone could do anything, the drakon had swallowed the son of Ares. Everyone was too shocked to move and the next thing Percy knew, Dustin was holding the drakon's jaw open, covered in overgrown reptile slobber. He stabbed his sword through the monster's skull and it was dead. Ever since then he was treated as a hero, and everyone went to him for help and advice, instead of Percy._

Just like when Thalia first came,_ Percy thought bitterly._

_ He knew he was thinking selfishly, but he's been feeling rejected. He didn't want attention and all that, but he at least wanted to be _noticed._ His friends seemed to have disappeared. Thalia was a huntress, Grover was Lord of the Wild, Nico was always in the Underworld as his father's ambassador and Annabeth was still busy designing Olympus. He saw his girlfriend less and less. Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank and Hazel were all at Camp Jupiter for the month, well actually, Hazel and Frank still lived there. Percy couldn't go because he wanted to stay close to Annabeth as she worked on Olympus._

_ His other friends were always hanging out with Dustin now. Travis and Conner started pranking with Dustin more and more often. Clarisse wanted to teach her little brother everything she knew and everyone else had their own reasons to hang out with him. Who wouldn't want to hang with him; the kid was perfect._

Then why do I feel so strange around him?_ he wondered._

_ The sound of footsteps sounded on the beach and Dustin came walking up to him with a wide smile on his face._

_ "Hey, Jackson," he greeted. "What are you doing down here? The party's up there." Oh yeah, the Capture the Flag victory party was going on. But Dustin's team had won._

_ "I didn't win, Dustin."_

_ He shrugged. "So? C'mon, you look like you need to party."_

_ Percy stared at him. He had that weird feeling again. Something was seriously up… "What are you getting at?"_

_ His eyes twitched and he frowned a little before replacing it with another smile. "Nothing. I don't know what you mean."_

_ Percy didn't buy it; he decided to interrogate some more. "There's something different about you and I don't like it…"_

_ Suddenly Percy was lying on his back in the cool sand, staring at the sneering face of a certain son of Ares. Percy blinked; what happened? He felt a chill as the tip of Dustin's sword was pressed under his chin._

_ "Listen here, Jackson," Dustin spat, all the niceness in his voice before vanished. "I am here for only one purpose and for one purpose only. And I'm not going to let a pathetic excuse for a demigod stop me from pleasing my master. You may not be fooled by my act, but the others are. I have them wrapped around my finger and they won't believe a word you say against me."_

_ "What's your purpose and who's your master?" Percy asked, careful to keep the sword from piercing his throat. He's been in this position so many times that it didn't surprise him like it used to._

_ "Like I'm going to tell you. Nighty, night, Jackson." He smashed the hilt of his sword into Percy's head, and the last thing he saw was Dustin's victorious smirk._

_ "Percy?" a feminine voice called trough the darkness. Percy opened his eyes to see the bemused face of his girlfriend. "What are you doing here? Were you here all night?"_

_ He groaned and sat up, rubbing his forehead. "Annabeth? You're back already?"_

_ She smiled. "Yeah, I get the week off. What are you doing here?"_

_ Percy realized that he was till on the beach. Why _was_ he here? Did he fall asleep during his walk? Or maybe…Or maybe a son of Ares knocked him out! The memories were suddenly flooding back and he gasped. _

_ He grasped Annabeth's shoulders. "Annabeth! We have to tell the others that that no good son of a gorgon is a traitor."_

_ "What? Who are you talking about? Percy, calm down." _

_ Percy quickly explained the events that had passed over last night. Annabeth looked shocked then confused._

_ "Who would he be working for? What would he want with us?" she questioned._

_ He shook his head. "I don't know, but we have to go confront him. C'mon!"_

_ He stood up to leave, but Annabeth just pulled him back down. "Hold on a minute, Seaweed Brain. We don't know if this even really happened. Plus, we don't have any evidence."_

_ Percy stared at her. "How could this not have happened? I was there!"_

_ She looked hesitant. "But, Percy, don't you think you could have been dreaming?"_

_ "Dreaming? It couldn't have been—Wait, you don't believe me do you?"  
Annabeth looked away. "I have my doubts…Everyone says he's a great guy, I just don't understand how he could do something like this, that's all."_

_ He couldn't have been dreaming, could he? It was all too real. It couldn't have been emotions and feelings that caused him to have a strange dream like that could it? No, he hadn't dreamt this; he knew there was something different about that kid and last night was all the proof he needed._

_ "No, I didn't dream it. Annie, if you don't believe me, can you at least come with me?" Percy invited._

_ His Wise Girl scanned him curiously before nodding her head._

_ Together, they climbed their way to the training area where they found Dustin and all his friends training with dummies. Dustin was the first to spot them. "Hey, Percy, Annabeth. What's up?" He smiled at them, as if nothing happened between him and Percy._

_ "You knocked me out last night," Percy said bluntly._

_ Dustin stared at him like he grew a second head. "What are you talking about? I never knocked you out."_

_ Percy gave him points for his acting; he looked real sincere, but Percy knew better. "You said that you had all the campers wrapped around your finger and no one would stop you from pleasing your master. You're a traitor!" A crowd was now forming, watching them like a tennis match._

_ "What? I never said that!"_

_ Someone called out from the crowd; a son of Athena. "That's a pretty big accusation, Percy. Where's your proof?"_

_ Proof? Proof… He rubbed the bump on his head—wait! The bump!_

_ "I have a bump from when he hit me on the head," he pointed it out. But they didn't buy it._

_ "You hit your head alright…" a daughter of Hermes muttered. Some chuckled._

_ "I'm serious!" Percy was so desperate. He _had_ to show everyone what kind of traitor Dustin was before they all got hurt._

_ "Percy, I swear on the River Styx that I'm not a traitor," Dustin said confidently._

_ Percy's eyes went wide—expecting to see him die on the spot. But nothing happened at all._

_ Nothing at all._

_ Clarisse called out, "You know, Prissy, ever since my brother came, you've been acting a little strange. Are you jealous?"_

_ Percy stared at her disbelieving. "No! I'm only trying to protect you!"_

_ A kid scoffed and the crowd dispersed, muttering consoling words to Dustin, who glanced back at Percy and shook his head sadly. The others glared at Percy for trying to blame their 'hero.'_

_ Only he and Annabeth were left._

_ "I was so sure…" Percy said in shock. How could this be so? Dustin should have died, not that he wanted him to. No, right now, all he wanted was the truth. He knew Dustin somehow lied and somehow the Styx didn't kill him, but how could that be true? You'd have to be _extremely_ powerful to commit such a feat… He was jolted out of his thought when he felt Annabeth's hand on his shoulder._

_ "Percy, are you okay?"_

_ "They didn't believe me," he answered._

_ "Percy, think about it. How could someone like Dustin be a traitor? I mean, he even swore on the Styx." He knew that she was just trying to get him to see sense, but he took it the wrong way. She didn't believe him either._

_ "Don't let appearance fool you," he grumbled bitterly. "He could be just like Luke." He realized his mistake too late._

_ Annabeth's gaze turned stone cold. She stepped away from him and crossed her arms. "What does _that _mean?" He swallowed. _

_ "Oh gods, Annabeth, I didn't mean it like that, it's just that—."_

_ "I know what you mean Percy." She stomped her foot in frustration. "You're so dense! You don't have to believe that everyone that you don't trust is a traitor! I'm sure Dustin is a great guy. And besides, it's obvious that you're wrong since he swore. Why can't you just accept that?"_

_ "Annabeth—"But she was on a roll._

_ "All I wanted when I found out that I could have the week off, was to spend time with my _sane _boyfriend. And I can't even have that." She glared at the ground. "Just leave."_

_ Percy didn't know what to say; he had a feeling saying sorry would just screw things up even more, if that was even possible. He really messed up this time._

_ With one last glance at his angered girlfriend, he walked back to his cabin. All the disgusted looks that were being thrown his way were driving him insane so he ran straight for his cabin._

_ Inside, he slid down the door and brought his knees to his chest._

_ What had he done? He just ruined everything. His relationship with his girlfriend and the last reputation he had left. He growled and banged his fist against the wall. How could he be so stupid? He knew that Luke was a sore subject. Things couldn't get any worse._

_ And maybe Annabeth was right. Maybe he had dreamt the whole thing last night and Dustin was innocent. He sighed, now Annabeth wanted him to leave…_

_ He stood up abruptly, his impulsive side taking in. Maybe he _should_ just leave. It's not like anyone would really miss him. No one would care, would they? But where would he go? He couldn't go back home. His scent was too strong and half-blood thirsty monsters would be knocking on the door almost everyday. If Paul or his mother got hurt he would never forgive himself._

Maybe I should just sleep on it,_ he thought._

_ After what felt like constant hours of tossing and turning, sleep finally managed to overcome him. And it wasn't long before his dreamless sleep was interrupted._

_ Percy groggily sat up as a flash of light erupted in his room. It took awhile before his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. When he could see clearly, he jumped back, hitting his head against the wall. He groaned and brought his hand up to the new bump._

Great, _he thought, _another hit on the head, and I'll be in a coma.

_There was a man standing in the middle of his room. He was a powerful looking gaze that just _radiated _power. The man had a kind face and eyes. But his eyes were nothing he had ever seen: like a bottomless black pit filled with dozens of twinkling little stars and solar systems. He was pale, but not in a sick way. His hair looked slick and was as black as night itself. And finally his long black cape seemed to resemble space, like his eyes, but to a greater extent. There were planets of the solar system and twinkling stars but more realistic. Percy could practically feel the heat come of the son on waves. And he felt like you could fall into space just by getting too close._

_ Percy wondered if he should test out his theory by throwing random objects at the cape, but he quickly decided against it._

_ "Who are you?"_

_ The man's eyes sparkled. "Take a guess," he said in an ancient voice._

_ Percy gripped the sword in his pocket, not trusting where this was leading. "Uh—you're obviously not a mortal, and you seem older than a god." He searched his brain for anything Ancient Greek that seemed to describe him; he ended up being empty handed. "I give up."_

_ "Really, I thought the cape would give me away," he mumbled before turning back to him. "I am Chaos, the creator of the universe."_

_ "Right, that was going to be my second guess." Though he was wondering exactly who Chaos was._

_ The man with stars in his eyes apparently found that amusing and laughed. "You are right, I am older than the gods, in fact without me, the gods wouldn't exist."_

_ "So you're really the creator of the universe?" A thought occurred to him. "Does that mean there is no God?"_

_ Chaos pursed his lips. "That is a conversation for another time. Let's get down to business." The creator of the universe's posture changed and he had a serious look on his face. "I'm here with an offer, Perseus Jackson." He flinched a little at his full name._

_ "And it is?"  
"You say you need to leave this place; to forget abut the ones who've abandoned you, but you do not have anywhere to go to. Well, I can offer you a place."_

_ "I'm listening," Percy said softly._

_ "If you join my army you can get away from your past and move on. You'll be trained to help the universe."_

_ "Where is this place exactly?" Percy asked skeptically, still not fully trusting the man. Chaos made a thinking face and pointed to his stomach. Percy was baffled. "You're going to _eat _me?"_

_ He smiled sheepishly and started to explain. "Actually the place is me." He saw Percy's disturbed face and laughed. "Let me explain, child. The place is called the Void. Now, the Void is connected to my life force so technically, it is me. And it is nowhere and everywhere, which means that you can only get in with special permission."_

_ Percy nodded like he understood. "And you want me to join—why?"_

_ "Because, you are the most powerful, loyal, kind-hearted, modest, trustworthy person I've seen in a thousand years. The army really could use someone like you."_

_ Percy blushed at the praise but then frowned. "Wouldn't you much rather want Dustin?" Percy said dejectedly._

_ The powerful man shook his head. "Of course not… I wasn't planning on telling you this so early but I feel like I should do it sooner than later." He took a breath. "Percy, you're right to accuse Dustin of treachery, he is not who he says he is."_

_ Percy sat up straight, now interested on where this conversation was going. "What do you mean?"_

_ "Dustin is a minion on my enemy's side. He is here for something and I'm not quite sure what it is yet."_

_ Before he could go on Percy asked, "But how did he not die when he swore on the River Styx?"_

_ "Ah, that. Well, he was blessed and trained by his leader, who is very, very powerful. And the Ancient Greek rules do not bind him."_

_ "So, his father isn't Ares?"_

_ "No. It was all a lie."_

_ Percy shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. He was right; Dustin was a liar. And he could still warn the camp— Percy's shoulders sagged. It's not like they would believe him anyway; they didn't believe him the first time, they won't believe him the second. They didn't need him anymore._

_ "So this army you were talking about…What do you do in it?"_

_ Chaos smiled. "For the beginners, you train and train until you are assigned your first mission. The first mission will determine a rank. Once you have a rank, you are sent on missions all over to the universe with your team to protect the innocent."_

_ Protect the innocent; that seemed like a job for Percy. But what about his family here? He voiced his thoughts._

_ "You will not be able to see them for quite some time, I admit."_

_ Percy was reluctant. Won't be able to see them? Did he really want that? The argument he had with Annabeth played back in his mind. Did he really want to leave her with her angry at him? Did he want to leave her at all?_

_ "Lord Chaos, is it okay if I could have some time before I make a decision?"_

_ The creator thought about it before nodding slightly. "I will allow you one week, but by then I will be expecting an answer. Goodbye, Perseus."_

_ The following week was torture on Percy. No one seemed to forgive him for his mistake. Percy found out that Annabeth ended her week off early the second day in and went back to work on Olympus. He knew her pride would make her stubborn like this. But whenever he tried to IM her, she would just end the call as soon as it appeared. Percy tried contacting is father during all this drama but he never answered, bringing his hopes down even more. Then things got even worse, if that was even possible. People were saying terrible things about him. How _he _was a traitor and probably done all those things in the past to get famous. They said he was selfish and probably didn't care about them at all._

_ They couldn't be more wrong._

_ On Friday he had enough and stormed into his empty cabin._

_ He knew his decision._

_ Chaos was already casually sitting on his bed. He lifted an eyebrow. "I assume you have your answer._

_ Percy hesitated. He thought he knew what his answer was but now…He cried out in frustration and sat down his bed, with his head held in his hands. Chaos rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, but stayed silent._

_ "Lord Chaos, my family here, who will protect them if no one knows about Dustin?"_

_ The man smiled. "You'll be protecting them of course."_

_ The boy shook his head. "How?"_

_ "As you're training, your powers and skills are strengthening. And when the time comes, this will become very helpful. When we find out more information on my enemy, and Dustin's boss, we will fight against them and protect the universe and your family in every way we can."_

_ Percy nodded though he didn't really know if that answered his question. But it still made him feel better._

_ He stood up and forced whatever confidence he had left and said, "I accept your offer to join the army."_

_ Chaos smiled broadly and stuck out his hand. Percy gripped it firmly and shook._

Prince was shaking his shoulder roughly and screamed his name. "Percy! Please, wake up!" the young boy called desperately.

Percy's vision cleared to reveal the scared, tear-stained face of Prince. He grunted and placed his palm on his forehead. He saw how frightened the young boy was and gave him a confused look.

"What happened?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

Prince's words were hiccupish. "Y-you just f-froze. You d-didn't a-answer me. I tried t-to—but you did-didn't. I th-thought you were d-dead!"

Percy stared at the boy, guilt running through his blood. How could he scare him like this? He shouldn't have let his guard down and let the memories swallow him.

Percy pulled Prince in for a hug. "It's okay, kiddo. I'm okay," he whispered.

"Please don't do that again." He could barely hear him; his voice was fragile and quiet. This told him he was about to fall asleep. That's one of Prince's ticks. The kid hated it, but there was nothing he could do. After a good cry, he would always fall asleep, like all the energy he had fell with the tears.

Prince passed out in Percy's arms, who just sat there, thinking about how his flashbacks could become a problem again. If one occurred during battle, he was going to be skewered. He had to tell his father about them.

After a while, Percy got up to put Prince in his room that was right next to his. But his hand lingered on the doorknob. He imagined Prince waking up in the morning, remembering what had happened the night before, and then start having a panic attack because Percy wasn't there. So, instead of opening the door to that room, he headed for his own. In there, he laid the boy on his bed and pulled an arm chair next to him. He's done this a bunch of times. And like all the other times, he would stay by the boy's side all night to make sure he was the first thing the kid saw.

Percy kissed Prince's forehead and leaned back in his chair. He soon followed the boy's example and fell asleep in the uncomfortable chair.

He was _so _going to feel it in the morning.

**Ow. My phalanges hurt. LOL.**

**Anyway, can you believe how long this chapter is?! Over 6,000 words! You guys better be happy, because my hands are probably going to need a doctor…Oh, and this was two chapters in one day. You are very welcome. **

**I need your guys' opinion. So, I took a lot of time on this chapter and I reread it like a gazillion times. I feel like the reason on why Percy left was kind of stupid. It might've been a little OOC too…So I really need your opinions to keep me going. I was just trying to make it different than the others, but I might've tried too hard, I don't know.**

**Anyway, I also tried to show the kind of relationship between Percy and Prince because it will be important later on in the story. **

**Thanks for your reviews! C'ya next month!**

**Sayonara! (If that's how you even spell it) ~WTTW**

**P.S. Do not forget about the question at the bottom A/N on the last chapter & REVIEW! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL! (I _really _need to make these things shorter)**

**(For real this time)~WTTW **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, everybody who bothered to read this! How was your day? Mine was pretty bad but that's normal. I have the worst luck sometimes.**

** Disclaimer: Nope, not gonna put one down this time. :P**

After Prince had woken up in the morning, Percy ordered room service. He loved this part of the day. Where him and Prince would sit and eat while watching cartoons on the TV. Just relaxing. It was a great thing to have some relaxation. Lately, Percy's been feeling a little stressed from all his work.

As he and Prince were relaxing, there was a knock on the door. Before Percy could ask who it was, the person let themselves in. Beatrix came briskly walking in with a clipboard in hand and a frown plastered on her face. Her shiny black hair was in a ponytail and her dark eyes were fixed on the clipboard.

"What's wrong Beatrix?" Prince asked her. The boy didn't even need to glance at the woman to know she was distracted. His eyes gave off a light purple or lilacish glow.

She looked up. "Oh, hello to you too."

Percy gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay, Bea?"

"Uh, yeah. Everything's great. Um, Percy, you need to be at a meeting in thirty minutes."

"But I thought today was my free day. What happened?"

"I don't know. I was just checking up on your father when he told me to round up the commanders, lieutenants and you. He says to meet him in the board room for a serious message from Sector 1."

"Isn't Sector 1 the camp placed on Earth?" asked Prince.

"Yes. And they say they have some news on the location of Venom and his gang."

Percy jumped straight up. "They have?" She nodded in response. "Then—wait, hold on. If my dad said to meet him there, does that mean he's feeling better?"

Beatrix nodded. "When I walked in I noticed that he had enough energy to pace apparently."

Percy nodded and walked towards the hall when Prince's voice stopped him.

"Percy can I go, pleeeease?" The boy pouted and stared at Percy with his big puppy-dog eyes. Percy couldn't say no. He sighed and said he could go.

"Yay!" Percy rolled his eyes as the boy did his silly happy dance.

He pointed at the boy strictly and said, "But you must be on your best behavior." Beatrix snickered, causing Prince to stick his tongue out. Then Percy pointed to Beatrix. "And you too."

Beatrix looked like someone had struck her across the face. Prince guffawed at her expression and fell on the floor holding his stomach.

Percy turned and walked back to his room to change. _When did I become the responsible one?_

When he was ready, they headed off to the board room. Percy tried to keep his anxiety under control, but failed. If Sector 1 really had news on Venom's group, he wanted to be the first one to know about it. He had a serious bone to pick with them. They really hurt him either emotionally or physically. First, they made the entire camp hate him (this hurt him emotionally). Then they scarred him for life, causing him to never take down his hood (this hurt him physically). And recently, they had poisoned his father. That crossed the line. You can make his family forget him, and force him to never show his face again, but you can never, _ever, _harm his loved ones.

When he gets his hands on them…

The commanders and lieutenants greeted him as he entered the room. He smiled at them. Sometimes, he really loved meetings. It occasionally reminded him of the councilor meetings at Camp Half-Blood. The commanders and lieutenants would sit around a smooth, solid black granite table just like the campers would. Percy tried to push down the twinge of sadness and longing to see his camp aside. Swiftly, he made his way to his personal chair next to Chaos's, taking notice of his father's absence.

Around the whole table there were twenty-four people seated.

The whole thing was sort of confusing the first time, but Percy eventually understood it, even if it took a while.

Around the whole universe, there are twelve solar systems. Each solar system consisted of eight planets. Usually, almost every planet had life on it. All solar systems were broken down into sectors. Sector 1 was the solar system that had Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn and so on. Sector 2 had seven planets with human life: Natrium, Cybaratron, Margatrine, Idensire, Gaytora, and Elyopix. Sector 3 had three planets with human life:

Zadartha, Jacatinta, and Tricarthia. Sector 4 had five human planets: Pardversa, Vortola, Basahear, Dwazwalin and Vezkator. And Sector 5, well, you get the point. **A/N: I really just ended it there because I ran out of names. :/**

So in total, there are twelve sectors. The sectors each have a lieutenant and commander. The commander and lieutenant had to be from their solar system. They acted like the protectors of their solar system. It was a great honor to become one, but it took _a lot_ of work to get there. You'd have to stand out from the rest, show bravery, trustworthiness, responsibility, and a whole bunch of other characteristics. When Percy became Chaos's assassin, he was so shocked. Percy didn't even _know _there was an assassin position. Chaos told him that to become an assassin, you'd have to have certain powers. Powers that only someone related to Chaos could have.

So, he offered to adopt him so they could be related in a way. At first, Percy was sad that he'd lose connection to his real dad, Poseidon, but Chaos told him that he'd still be a demigod, just…more powerful.

It was the commanders and lieutenants jobs to lead their Sector's army and fight in wars. It was Percy's job as an assassin to prevent wars or start wars with the strike of a sword. Percy always worked alone on his missions. The commander always had their army or parts of the army during their missions, they were never alone.

Percy's life was so complicated sometimes, no, all the time.

The commander of Sector 1 waved for him. His name was Jeremiah Swine. Jeremy was once a regular twenty-six year old mortal on Earth in 1934 before his family drowned in the ocean. He was alone on the streets until Chaos found him three hard years later. He had brown hair and hazel eyes.

"I heard you have news on the whereabouts of Venom's men," Percy began.

Jeremy nodded. "Aye, we have. My lieutenant and the camp we placed onto Earth have seen their campsite in Alaska."

"Okay," Percy nodded. "And you are sure that it was their camp?"

A look of steel showed in his eyes. Percy remembered how the man hated being doubted. He was very prideful and defensive. If he was a demigod, that was sure to be his fatal flaw. Even though he needed to fully learn how to control his flaws, he was completely deserving of his position as commander. "I am most positive, sir."

Percy studied him for a minute before nodding in satisfaction. Jeremy was getting better at controlling his flaw; that was for sure.

Just then, the door opened and Percy's father came walking in. Everyone immediately stopped talking and scrambled to their seats. Chaos took his seat next to Percy who was resting his feet on the table. Prince came to stand by Percy.

"Perseus, must your feet always be on the table?"

"Must it always be on the floor?" he replied.

His father sighed. "Whatever. Now, let's get started." He looked around the table. "I've recently been told that Venom's location has been found. I fear that my hunch was correct and he and his forces are placed on Earth. I'm sure that he is after a certain _gem_ that I've hidden on that planet."

"Sir, why exactly is the gem important to Venom?" asked a lieutenant of Sector 4.

"Venom needs it for the very same poison he had used on me. If he gets it, anyone can die. Gods, immortals, including you and me." Gasps were heard throughout the room. "Yes, if he finds that gem, he'd have total control over everything."

"We can not allow that to happen!" a commander of Sector 3 shouted. "What must we do to stop him?"

Chaos leaned back in his chair and intertwined his fingers. "Nothing, for now." Seeing the look on everyone's face, he continued. "I mean that, for the time being, we must be patient. For the next few Earth months, we shall keep Sector 1 placed on Earth. While they are there, they will record every movement Venom makes. During this time, we will have to make helpful allies on Earth incase something goes out of hand."

"What would happen if things _do _go out of hand and a war was sprung?" asked Beatrix, who was a lieutenant of Sector 5.

"Then we fight and our allies will help," Percy answered. He already knew who the allies would be and was _almost _positive they would help.

Jeremy crossed his arms. "You sound so certain. What if they refuse to help? And why do they have to help us if a war began; we could just get the other Sectors to help."

"I have my own reasons to sound certain and I know that they will not refuse. And the Sectors have wars of their own to worry about." Jeremy nodded in understanding.

"Right," continued Chaos. "Once we get more information, we will send Sector 5 to help, because they currently have no wars going on. Now, if a war was to happen on Earth, we will have Sector 1 and 5 fight. Does anyone have any questions?"

The commander of Sector 11 spoke up. "Yeah, who or what are going to be our allies?"

Chaos glanced at Percy. "There is a camp on Earth that trains godly kids—demigods. The place is called Camp Half-Blood. They—,"

Percy interrupted. "They were once my family. I used to go to that camp before I was recruited. They are strong and powerful and would be wonderful allies."

A commander asked, "So you were once a demigod?"

"Yes."

"Who was your godly parent?" asked Hunter, the lieutenant of Sector 1. Percy knew he was a son of Apollo.

"Poseidon."

Hunter grinned. "One of the Big Three, huh? How cool is that?"

"What does 'Big Three' mean?" someone asked, confused.

Hunter's smile broadened. "The Big Three are the Olympian brothers: Poseidon, god of the sea, Zeus, god of the sky and Hades, god of the Underworld. Children of the Big Three are extremely powerful!"

Percy felt everyone's gaze turn to him and sank in his chair.

His father chuckled. "Okay, does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded. "Good, I think we should contact our allies right now." He waved his hand and a screen appeared. "Show me the gods."

The screen shimmered and Percy watched as the throne room appeared. Only a few gods were present. It was just Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hestia, and Ares there. From what Percy heard, they seemed to be arguing about one of Ares's sons injuring Athena's son. Hestia was tending the hearth. Hera was rubbing her temples like she had a headache. And the almighty Zeus was quietly watching the whole thing. It was Hestia who noticed them first.

"Oh, hello," she greeted. Percy smiled. Hestia was one of his favorite Olympians. Almost like a second mother.

"Hello, Lady Hestia," he replied politely.

Her expression looked confused until recognition showed and she smiled broadly. "Percy?"

He nodded. By then, the gods stopped all commotion and looked at the screen. "Perseus?" asked Zeus.

"Yes?"

"What is this?"

Chaos took that as his cue to butt in. "Gods of Olympus, I have a proposition for you."

Zeus looked weary. "I presume you are Chaos. Do you need the rest of the council here?"

The creator nodded. "Yes, that would be a good idea. It involves all of them."

Zeus nodded and asked Hestia if she would gather the rest.

Soon, everyone was sitting in their thrones.

"There better be a good reason for this meeting, brother," Hades grumbled.

Zeus ignored him and spoke to Chaos. "What was your proposition?"

The rest of the gods turned to look at the screen and gasped. Percy smirked; it was funny to see them like this.

After a moment of shock, it was actually Aphrodite who spoke first. "Aww, that little boy is _adorable_!" Beside him, Prince blushed and hid behind him.

Percy grinned teasingly at the boy.

"Aphrodite, now is not the time," Artemis scolded.

"I came here with a proposal," Chaos began. "My enemy is currently hiding on your planet. We are asking if you could become our allies. He is very powerful and we'll need all the help we can get."

Ares grunted. "Why should we help you?"

Anger welled up in Percy, just like every time he was near him. Ares has always been his least favorite. "Because if you don't you will be destroyed permanently along with the rest of your planet."

Behind Ares's sunglasses, smoke rose. "Gods don't die, punk."

Percy crossed his arms. "Well, this particular person will have the power to."

The Olympians tensed. "And if we do help you?" asked Hera.

"Your planet will be stay fully intact," Beatrix grinned.

The gods glanced at each other. Percy could tell they were communicating telepathically.

About three minutes later, Zeus cleared his throat. "The council has agreed to be your allies."

Chaos smiled gratefully. "Great! I will send my troops there in two Earth months."

"Two Earth months? Does time go by differently wherever you are?"

"Dear goddess, there is no time where we are." Before she could ask what he meant, Chaos said, "Sector 1 is already on Earth and will be there the same time Sector 5 gets there."

Poseidon looked at Percy, silently asking him a question.

"Father," Percy asked Chaos. "Is it okay if I go along with Sector 5?"

He smiled. "Of course it is." Percy smiled at his father, who was grinning from ear to ear. "So, I guess this meeting is over?" Zeus nodded. "Good, now, you should probably inform Chiron of their upcoming arrival."

"We'll do that."

With one last smile, Chaos ended their communication and looked at everyone at the table. "Well, who's hungry?"

**Well, this certainly wasn't my best chapter. I felt like it was just too confusing and unorganized. It would help if I got creative and constructive criticism. Thanks for all the reviews so far!**

**To Autumnal Equinox: Thanks for that huge review! And I totally know that the reason was stupid, and you're right. It seems like a Chaos story can't be a Chaos story without a stupid reason. Thanks for saying that mine was different though. I also hate stories where Annabeth is totally stupid and dumps Percy or cheats. It just doesn't seem realistic to me. I felt like Luke would always be a sour subject between them and could affect their relationship for better or for worse. And what you said did make sense.**

**To answer your question: the demigods' physical age should be around seventeen to eighteen. Preferably eighteen. And the 'boomythingy' was like a cannon-shaped filled with stardust. The stardust acted like a knock out gas to them. Prince was not affected because he was behind the cannon while it shot outwards. And I didn't name it because I didn't know what to call it. And I think Prince is super adorable too. He has a very important role.**

**Until next year! (Just kidding!) –WTTW O-O**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7. Please read A/N at the bottom when done reading.**

As soon as Chaos said those words, everyone ran out of the room. Only Chaos, Percy and Prince remained. Even Beatrix had gone.

Percy turned to his father and snickered at his surprised expression. "I take it that means they're all hungry."

He shook his head. "I didn't keep them in here _that_ long, did I?"

Prince patted his arm. "It's okay. Percy told me once that growing boys have to eat."

That made Percy crack up. He was clutching his sides. "Wha-what about the girls, Prince?"

The boy put on a thinking face, making Percy go into another fit of laughter. Chaos shook his head, amused. "Aphrodite was right; you really are adorable."

"Did she look like…?" Prince trailed. Then he glanced at both of them. "Never mind."

"Who did Aphrodite look like, Prince?" Percy pressed.

"No one!" Percy didn't believe him. He knew his little boy had a crush and he was going to find out.

"Prince…?" Chaos teased.

The kid blushed then looked at his imaginary watch. "Oh, would you look at that? I have a very important, um, play date, somewhere." Prince bolted out the door.

Chaos grinned at Percy. "He's becoming more and more like you everyday."

"Yeah."

"And I thought _one_ Percy was a handful…" he murmured.

Percy put his hands over his heart and feigned hurt. "That hurts."

The man just laughed. Percy loved his father. There were many sides to him. There was the ancient, wise, sees-all-knows-all side of him. And a modern, fatherly, calm and collected side that always said, _I'll get to it later. _And, finally, there was the strict warrior side. One that scared Percy's socks off and made him nervous just being within a five mile radius of him.

For minutes, they just stood there and talked; talked about anything that came to mind; from the city to Venom to the commanders and lieutenants and then to the planets.

"So, how do you feel about going about to Earth?" Chaos asked.

Percy hesitated. In truth, he didn't exactly know how to feel. "I don't know. I should be excited and all, but I'm just nervous. What if I was wrong and they want nothing to do with me?"

"Well. They're gonna have to deal with you, because we're their allies."

Percy shook his head. "What if too much has changed? What if my friends have changed? What if Annabeth changed?"

"Perseus, you just saw them yesterday. Did they look like they've changed in any way to you?"

"Well…no. But to them it probably wasn't yesterday. Probably a week to them."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, it doesn't matter how long ago it was. What I'm trying to say is: do you know how much they miss you? Did you know that they have meetings on your disappearance?"

Percy swallowed. "They do?"

"The meeting we saw yesterday was one of them."

He didn't believe it. They actually _missed _him.

"I thought you said you checked up on them every now and then." Chaos crossed his arms.

"I do, but I usually tuned out when they talked about me."

His father face-palmed. "Did you also know that at campfires, they tell stories on your quests to the newer campers?"

"I think I made it pretty clear that I didn't know any of this."

Chaos smiled sheepishly. "What are you going to do when you get there?"

_When are the questions going to end? _"Um…I'll probably have to tell them who I am. Then, I don't know what I'll do."

"It sounds like you are fully prepared."

"I _feel_ fully prepared."

Chaos paused. "You know, Percy, Venom still needs Nyx's Night tree sap for his poison."

"Yes, I know that."

"Venom will still need it after he has the star; that is if he gets it of course."

"And he won't."

"He can't get into the Void, so he will use other means to get the sap. Now, I think there just might be a spy that was sent by him to retrieve the sap."

_Oh no_, he thought, _not another one_

"And that spy might just get it, if we are not careful. But, if that theory is wrong, then Venom will send an army for it. We must be prepared. We would need most of the Sectors if he sends the Shadows."

Percy felt himself shiver. The Shadows were Venom's personal army. They were entirely made of shadows and black magic. They were vicious, blood-thirsty, cruel creatures with glowing yellow eyes that looked straight to your soul. And because they were made of shadows, any strike you throw at them will just go right through them. So, basically, you can not touch them, but they can touch you. Percy once ran into the army's general. It did not end well. When Percy told Chaos what happened, no one had a clue what the monsters were.

Percy fiddled with Riptide in his pocket. "We won't win against the Shadows unless we can find a good weakness."

Chaos leaned back in his chair. "Yes, what would be the weakness to _shadows?_"

Percy mentally hit himself. "Well, now I feel stupid for not seeing it earlier. Light."

Chaos chuckled. "Ding-ding-ding; we have a winner!"

He rolled his eyes. "Great, what's my prize?" Just then, his stomach gave a low growl.

"Your prize is lunch."

Percy caught up with Beatrix. She was sitting at a little café table outside of a small restaurant reading a book. Prince was sitting next to her with his small head behind a huge menu. He laughed; this sight was all too familiar to him.

He pulled out a chair and joined them. Beatrix glanced up from her book, to which he couldn't read the title because of his stupid dyslexia. "I already ordered you a pizza." Then she raised an arrow. "Since when were _you_ ever late to lunch?"

"Since when did you_ read_?" Prince whispered behind the menu. Percy snorted. Beatrix either didn't hear the boy or didn't care.

"I was just talking to my father." A waiter came over to them and gave them their food. Prince had macaroni and cheese, like usual. The kid just adored it. Beatrix has a chicken salad. And Percy had his pizza. He never really got tired of it. They all had ice water, except Prince. He doesn't like it because he thinks the ice takes up space. When Percy asked if he wanted it cold, Prince just said, "As long as it settles my thirst, I'm good."

Percy bit into the greasy food. He'll never stop loving pizza. It would be better, though, if it was blue.

"So," he told Prince. "How was your 'play date'?" He did air quotes with his fingers around the words _play date_.

Prince hid stooped in his chair. "I said that to get out of there. Don't laugh at me."

"It's okay. I won't," Percy lied.

He groaned. "You're lying!"

Beatrix looked between us. "I don't even want to know." She took a bite of her salad and looked back down at the book.

Percy craned his neck to get a better look at the book. "What book could manage to get the great Beatrix's eye?"

"It's a book on Earth's history. I figured if I was going to go there, I'd probably want to be the _explainer _instead of the _explainee._"

Percy nodded. "Good idea. But couldn't you have just asked someone from Sector 1 or me?"

"Do you know everything about your planet?"

He shrugged. "Mainly the important stuff. But all you really need to know is the Greek legends and all that because Camp Half-Blood is a Greek camp. And maybe some Roman stuff, I don't know, it depends."

She nodded. "So, will you answer my questions?"

"Again, that depends. What questions?"

"How does the camp work?"

"Well, first there are the immortal campers. They were once my friends. There are a lot of campers there because there are cabins for every god."

"Can you name some?"

"Sure. There's Apollo, Nemesis, Hypnos, Athena, Zeus, Artemis and a _lot_ more. They each have a cabin to store their kids. Some are really packed. The camp was originally made to hold the Olympians' kids, but something changed that—"

"What changed that?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Prince give him a knowing look.

Percy sighed. "You'll find out later, probably. Anyway, something changed that and made it so the minor gods could have their own cabins. The camp was made to train the demigods. And also, the camp director is a centaur."

He watched as Beatrix processed this. "And Earth is the only planet ever created to have real live gods?"

"Yep, all planets have their special perks. Some may have fairies, wizards and all that, while Earth has gods."

"Alright. That's all I want to know for know."

"You don't want to know the camp rules or stuff?"

She waved her hand and stood up from her seat. "Nah, this way, if I break the rules, then I can just say I didn't know them and I won't be lying. See you guys later!" She jogged off with her book, waving goodbye.

Percy stood up from his spot and stretched. Prince got up and they started walking towards the castle.

"Are we just going to go home?"

"Nope, we're going to visit Maggie."

Prince noticeably faltered. "M-Maggie?"

He nodded. "Yes, Maggie. I need to talk to her about something."

"Oh, okay," he said in a small voice. Percy has never seen Prince so flustered and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

In the palace, Prince and Percy made their way to Maggie's home. Maggie was the city's main healer, most thought of her as a witch doctor, with her crazy red hair and yellow eyes. She had one eight year old daughter named Madison. Madison was a lively little girl who got along well with everyone. Prince was her best friend.

Percy knocked on the door three times and stepped back, taking Prince with him.

Just like always, the door flew open outwards and slammed into the wall, leaving _another_ crack to add to the collection. Madison skipped up to them. Her red hair was in two neat braids at her side and her light magenta colored eyes showed happiness; just like always. She had a yellow floral dress that made her hair really stand out.

"Prince!" she cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Percy needed to ask your mom for something," he answered shyly.

The girl looked up at Percy. "She's in the living room drinking her nasty herbal tea." She made a face and Prince laughed. Her smile returned and she reached for Prince's hand. "Come on! I have a new photo to my collection that I want to show you!"

Percy chuckled as Prince was dragged away by the energetic girl.

Madison's collection was a set of photos she'd taken by herself. Since she was young, she always had a thing for photography. She covered her entire room in them and he had to admit that she was quite the photographer.

He strode into the living room, gagging at the strong scented tea. The room looked pretty average and like any other apartment would, except for the fact that exotic, colorful rugs and tapestries were hung and laid all around. All the blinds were closed and no light was on, giving everything a shadowy appearance. Sitting on a tattered brown couch, sipping tea, was a woman who looked around her late thirties. She had red hair like Madison's and yellow feline-like eyes never stayed focused on one spot. Around her neck were many necklaces made of bone, teeth and unusual beads. She smiled warmly at Percy and showed her slightly pointy teeth.

"Perseus, what a nice surprise. Would you care to sit down?"

He sat in his usual armchair opposite of her.

Maggie set her drink down on the coffee table in front of her and propped up her feet. "Now, what is it you would like, dear?"

He rubbed his neck uncertainly. "I need your advice on a situation that has been becoming a real problem." She said to go on. "Well, ever since I joined, I've been having these flashback type things. They've lately been real constant and distracting. They used to only happen in my sleep but yesterday, it started while I was awake. I'm afraid if something like this happens during battle, I won't be able to stop it."

She nodded her head, eyes darting somewhere new every few seconds. "I see. And they only started after you joined?"

"Yes."

"And they are memories of your past, I assume." He replied with a nod.

"And what exactly have you seen so far?" She sat forward on her couch expectantly. He shifted in his seat, deciding whether to tell her. Ever since he came to the Void, she's been trying to get into his head and learn all about his past. Of course, he kept his mind safe and secure. But now, he saw no way out of this.

"There was one of my mom's death and one of my old home back on planet Earth." He refused to tell her more. If she was going to find out, it would be a total different situation.

She leaned back disappointedly. "When will you trust me, Perseus? I've given you no reason not to."

Percy glanced away when she called him by his full name. She sort of found out about his name on her own. He didn't mind much, but only his father and she could call him that. To everyone he was just Percy. "You can ask Chaos. I won't tell you anything else."

The witch doctor sighed dramatically. "Fine, now, back to the problem at hand. These flashbacks; are they painful to watch?"

He nodded dryly. "Some more than others."

"Alright. So, I've recently heard that we've allied ourselves with demigods back on Earth, your home planet." Percy hated hearing that. It made them sound like aliens. "And I've also heard that you were once a demigod yourself. A son of Poseidon, to be exact." He groaned and face-palmed. He also hated how fast news spread through the city. Wasn't the meeting only just a few hours ago?

"Yes, that's all true."

"Percy, please, tell me so I could help you." Percy took one look at her and felt that he really did trust her enough. He couldn't explain how, but he felt that she really did want to help him, but in order for that to happen, she'd have to understand.

So, with a great sigh, he told her his story, much like how he had told Prince last night.

A light shone in her eyes when he finished. She intertwined her fingers and for the first time, her eyes focused right on Percy. "Now, it's my turn," she started, her voice coated with sadness but eyes set in a dreamy state. He was about to object but she spoke before he could say anything. "I had grown up here, in the Void, all my life. My mother was a healer herself and she taught me all of her ways. As a kid, I was completely isolated from the rest of the city. I was always locked up in the palace, studying. One day, I snuck out and I met a soldier in Sector 1. He was very handsome and intriguing and there was something very different about him. I was especially attracted to his mysterious purple eyes. When I learned more about him, he revealed himself as a son of Hecate. I also learned of his haunted past that I will not get into." She took a breath and dabbed at her left eye. By the way her voice kept cracking; he could tell that it was very hard for the healer to talk about her past. Percy was worried she'd start crying because he wasn't very good at comforting, but she just continued on.

"My mother found out about us and had foreboded our seeing each other. Of course, I didn't listen. It was hard to split up _true _love." She said meaningly, glanced at a picture hanging from the wall. "There was a war that started just after our wedding. He was always off fighting while I was healing like crazy. Then, about two days into the battle, he appeared at my tent, all bloodied and bashed. He said that there was a shadow like figure that attacked him. I—I did the best I could, but it just wasn't enough. I held his hand as he died. Some time later, Madison was born." She looked at him straight in the eye. "I regret her not having a father. She is everything you could hope for in a child. Alastor would have loved her."

Percy dug his nails into the palm of his hand. He remembered that battle. It happened during his first mission, around eight years ago, when he accoutered his first Shadow. His mission was to spy on the enemy's camp and report back to Chaos. When he got back, he found out that the Sectors were already at battle. There had been many deaths. Alastor's was the saddest of them all. At the time, Alastor was the commander of Sector 1 and then Jeremiah took his place soon after.

He glanced at the healer and decided that if he tried to apologize for her loss, she would not accept it. She didn't want pity or sympathy; he could relate to that.

Instead, he waited patiently for her to speak again.

"Now, there is something else." She leaned back, crossed her left leg over the right and bit her pinky finger thoughtfully. "I think Alastor may have had the same flashbacks you are having, only they were of _his_ past."

"So it isn't just me going crazy?"

Maggie clicked her tongue in mock disappointment. "Oh, dear Perseus, aren't we all crazy in our own ways?"

He smiled. "You are absolutely right."

She rolled her eyes. "Aren't I always? Anyway, Alastor had the same problem you did. He used to always freeze so suddenly and get an insane look in his eyes that would always haunt me. Like he was trapped in a prison of tortured memories." She shook her head sadly, probably lost in memories herself. "His flashbacks didn't start until a few months before the battle started. He had told me that they were like a prophetic dream; a warning of some sorts. Most of his flashbacks were of his old friend, Gabriel. Gabriel had betrayed the army a few years ahead, which I'm sure you are familiar with."

Percy winced at that. His father was horribly bitter for the next few days when that happened.

"Gabriel happened to be in the battle when it started. But the worst thing was that Gabriel was turned into a Shadow somehow—."

"That's possible?" freaked Percy. He was never told of this.

"Sadly, it is. It was Gabriel who made the last blow, causing his death. Alastor ran for his life and escaped to my tent. Like I said before, I did the best I could, but there really was nothing I could do for a wound that size. Before he had died, he told me that even if he could've, he wouldn't have hurt his best friend. He just couldn't.

"Now, the flashbacks he had were like a warning. Telling him that his past was about to catch up to him."

Percy swallowed. That sounded much like what Chaos had said to him the other day. How his past would catch up and bite him in the butt. _Well, _he thought. _What he said was true. Soon, I'll be at Camp Half-Blood again._

"So, what I am thinking is that the same thing is happening to you."

"How do I stop it?" he questioned nervously.

She shrugged. "I guess you let the past catch up." She smiled a toothy smile that really made her sharp teeth show.

He shivered at the sight. "Thank you, Maggie. That's all I needed." They both stood up from their current spots and Maggie led him to the door. Percy called for Prince.

"Good, I'm sorry I wasn't much help. But if you need any thing at all, do not hesitate to ask me," she compelled. He nodded in understanding and smiled as Madison and Prince bounded into the room.

Madison pouted and walked up to Percy. "Please, Mr. Percy, can Prince stay for dinner?" She batted her eyelashes, brought her eyebrows up, combined her fingers as if she were praying and finally, stuck out her bottom lip. It was adorable; like a small dog was wishing for their owner to stay. Understanding what she was doing, Prince copied the girl's actions.

"I don't know," Percy said, pretending to be uncertain. "You'd have to ask your mom first."

Madison turned her begging face towards her mother while Prince kept looking at Percy. He smiled at the boy reassuringly.

Maggie chuckled. "Alright, he can stay for dinner."

"Yay!" the kids cheered.

"If…"

"Awww," they complained, shoulders drooping.

"If you both help me cook."

"Yay!"

Percy laughed, quickly giving Prince a goodbye hug and headed out the door, waving. The kids ran for the kitchen.

He sighed. _I hope they don't blow something up like last time._

**The end.**

**Joking! Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS/ HANUKKAH TO YOU ALL! I'm uber excited for school break and my new phone that I just KNOW I'll be getting.**

**Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that most of the story is completely original. The whole plot is my idea. I am not writing a story in which the titans and giants come back again to attack the camp, if you have not figured that out by now. Everything, I promise you, will be completely original. Nothing you have ever read before. Yep, just wanted to get that cleared up.**

**And how many can guess who Aphrodite looked like to Prince? If you can guess right (even though it's kinda obvious) I'll give you a shoutout and answer any question you got on the story.**

**Happy holidays! And this time, I really will see you next year! Well, not technically _see_ you, but I think you know what I mean.**

**Wishing you a happy new year—WTTW (^_^)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Do not own Percy Jackson.**

**Shout-out to my BFF, Mady S. Thanks for the ideas, too. I hope you're happy you're famous. And, now, you owe me twenty bucks for putting you on here, Harry. ;P**

**Sorry if this is a little late, but I just wanted to get it down before school starts. 'Cause school is going to bring me down…hard. Also, please read my new story called The Half-Bloods. (It's the accidental chapter)**

Percy sat on the chair in his private office. He had been checking up on recent activities in the universe, and was pleased to see that Yasmine was a totally different person. Maybe sometimes her old self showed, but she really did act differently towards the people in her kingdom. She reduced some laws and punishments and helped the poor. All she had needed was a good talk.

He pressed a button and the whole city came into view like a security camera on his computer screen. There were rarely any problems in the city. One could even call it paradise, but that was from Percy's point of view. Some may say it had its difficulties, but he would disagree.

At the very end of the city was the palace. Imagine a palace from a fairytale and then imagine it black and manly looking, if that is even possible. In front of the palace was Nyx's Night tree and streets full of houses, shops and restaurants circled it. It went like that for a couple of miles until a big, beige arena split it. The arena was for training new comers and beginners. You could hear the sounds of exhaustion as the trainees pushed themselves to try harder. Remembering his own training, Percy shuddered.

Past the arena were apartments and schools. Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, High Schools, and even Colleges were scattered neatly around the city. Then after the schools, it continued with houses and shops and more restaurants. And finally, there was the forest.

Percy smiled and zoomed towards the screen back into the schools. It was as deserted as a desert. That was because all the kids were on summer vacation, like Prince and Madison were. It has been only a week since school ended and it seemed like Prince was already bored. Percy needed to find something Prince could do; something that wasn't training. The kid has asked probably over a hundred times already, but Percy always refused. He didn't want him training until he was twelve, which was how old Percy was when he started his own training.

Over at the training area, Percy saw his friend, Trevor, training the beginners, with a black bandana wrapped over his short red hair and pure black sunglasses hiding his hazel eyes. Trevor watched in sympathy as the trainees ran two miles around the arena. Again, Percy winced as he remembered his own training, then he thanked Chaos for the fact that it was all over.

Sensing that his friend was bored, Percy contacted him.

Percy pressed his middle and index finger to his throat and spoke out loud. "Seems like you're having a blast," he said sarcastically.

Trevor didn't even flinch when a voice spoke sounded in his head. "And I bet you're having a blast watching me." Trevor Wigget was Percy's very first friend when he came here. They had gone through training together and had an apartment together for a little while, before Percy moved into the palace. Percy offered his friend a room in the palace, but he refused. Trevor was very independent, and liked to earn things for his own successes.

"Oh, yeah," Percy muttered. "I just love watching you when you work. Look at all the energy and enthusiasm you have!"

Trevor laughed slightly. "So, where have you been, bro? It has been a while since I've last seen you."

"Didn't we just see each other three days ago?"

A confused look crossed his face. "I don't know. It's practically impossible to tell time here!"

"Easy, when the sun is up; that is morning. When the sky is orange-ish, it is probably around noon or the evening. And when the son is gone, and the moon is up, it is night."

Trevor scoffed. "I knew that!"

He smirked. "Of course you did."

His friend steamed, and then a thoughtful look was placed there instead. "Hey, the trainees are almost done with their mile. You should come down here and show them your sword fighting skills."

Percy froze. "You know I don't like to be in the middle of attention."

"Yes, I do. Is that a problem? You seem like you've taught sword fighting loads of times before."

"Fine," Percy groaned, "but only because I'm a nice person."

Trevor grinned triumphantly and called out to the trainees. "Alright, ladies! That's enough for today. Grab your sword and get in your fighting positions. _Prince Percy_ is going to be training you at sword fighting."

Percy glared at the screen, his fingers still on his throat. "Don't call me that."

Trevor pretended to ignore him and gave instructions to his trainees.

He sighed in defeat and got out of his chair, leaving for the training arena.

In just a few minutes, Percy was walking through the arena doors. All commotion stopped and everyone looked his way, making Percy uncomfortable. All of the trainees bowed low, making him feel even more awkward.

Trevor laughed at his uncomfortable state. "Okay guys, you don't have to bow to him. He doesn't really like it."  
"But isn't he royalty?" someone asked.

He scoffed. "Who, Percy? Nah, he may act royal, but he's actually just a big kid at heart."

"Gee," said Percy, "thanks, pal."  
Trevor smiled. "You are very welcome. Now," he clapped his hands together, "let's get started!"

For the next two hours, they trained and sweated. Percy showed them most of his techniques, but not all. He didn't want them to use it against him. During the training, he really got to know some of them. Well, he technically knew everyone who entered and exited the Void, but he got to know the personally. He realized that Chaos really did pick the purest of people to join his army, because not one trainee was rude, or self-centered, or cocky, or arrogant.

As Percy watched them do push-ups, Trevor rested a hand on his shoulder. "I really am proud of them. I couldn't have asked for better students."

Percy nodded. "I agree, but shouldn't you be telling _them _that?"

Trevor held his hands behind his back and smiled all-knowingly. "I will, given time."

He raised a curious eyebrow. Trevor just loved being mysterious. It was his thing. Percy looked outside to see the sun setting. It was time for everyone to go home. He whistled, getting everyone's attention. "Okay, guys. That's it for today."

The trainees sighed in relief and exasperation and stood up with wobbly knees. They all nodded their respect to Percy on their way out.

When they were all gone, Trevor smiled. "Thanks, man. I couldn't do it without you."

"Yeah, you couldn't have." Trevor pouted. "I'm going to go. See you, Wigget."

As he stepped outside, he heard Trevor call, "You aren't going to help me clean up?"

Percy just laughed like it was the funniest thing he's ever heard and walked away from the arena. He kept walking until he reached the forest. Percy stopped right at the border. All kinds of trees were spread out in front of him. Pines, Firs, Oaks and many more were all over, making it look unorganized. There were even plants from other planets, ones with different colors and leaves. It kind of reminded Percy of something he'd see in a children's book.

With a deep breath, Percy walked straight into the forest. He was going to his favorite place to relax and think. He continued his walk for possibly ten minutes, until he came across a clearing. The clearing had a small, clear pond with different fish in it. Trees surrounded it in an oval-ish way. The sun shined bright through the canopy of leaves. A single palm tree rested by the pond, giving off a small shade from the sunlight. Percy had stumbled across the spot on his second day here in the Void. After that day, he came here constantly. He wasn't aware how much he came here in a week, though.

Percy sat down under the palm tree and stuck the tips of his fingers in the water. The fish, as curious as they were, tried to nibble his fingers off. He smiled and poked one in the back. It scurried to the other side of the pound, complaining about germs.

His Poseidon powers never really went away. He didn't mind it, really. It just that sometimes, talking to fish bothered him. He liked how he can still breathe underwater and control it, but he figured that even if he wasn't the son of Poseidon, he could've had those abilities thanks to Chaos. Though, his water abilities came more naturally than the powers Chaos had given him.

The other fish in the pond greeted him and swam on with their lives. Percy laid against the tree and closed his eyes.

For a while, he thought of nothing. Then, his mind wandered. To somewhere he didn't want it to go. To his past. To Annabeth. And the oncoming return to Camp Half-Blood… Involuntarily, his eyelids soon began to fall. Then, he was succumbed to the darkness of sleep.

_He was standing on the shores of Montauk, doodling in the sand with a long stick he'd found on the beach. He had rented the cabin for a couple of days for his and Annabeth's one-year anniversary. The Giant War had ended and the two of them were looking for quality time that _wasn't_ in Tartarus. They were also there for Percy's birthday._

_A firm hand slipped into his and Annabeth smiled at him. "What are you drawing, Seaweed Brain?"  
He frowned. "I thought it was a fish, but it kinda looks like an elephant, now that I think about it."  
"Huh, I thought it was a dolphin." It was quiet then, as they relished each other's company._

"_Annabeth, I know this anniversary isn't as good as the one when we went to Paris—," he was cut off._

"_Relax, Percy. It's a great anniversary."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Yes, I mean, the last thing I want after everything that's happened is to be with a bunch of people in a noisy place."_

_He nodded. "Yeah. I thought we needed some peace."_

_ She rested her head on his shoulder. Her hair tickled his ear. "I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather be."_

_ Percy remembered something he needed to do. "Wait here, I got you something."_

_ "You didn't have to get me anything."_

_ He mentally scoffed. He knew that was 'girl talk' for 'Oh, you really should have,' or 'thanks.' Percy ran back into the cabin and came back out, with his hands behind his back. He really hoped she liked it. Annabeth had sat down while he was gone, so he sat next to her. "Okay, close your eyes."_

_ She gave him a wry look then shut her eyes. After he waved his hand in front of her face to make sure she wasn't peeking, he brought out what was behind his back. He told her to open her eyes again._

_ Annabeth gasped. In his hands he was holding a beautiful seashell. It had luminescent colors all around it and small swirls. "Oh my gods, Percy, where did you find this?"  
He shrugged. "On my way to my father's palace. I saw a glow in a patch of seaweed and found the shell. I cleaned it up and had Leo make some improvements."_

_ "It's beautiful. I love it." She looked up at him with shiny eyes. "Thank you, Percy."  
He gave her the shell. "You can attach it to your necklace."_

_She grinned and unlatched her leather camp necklace and put the shell on with the other beads. The daughter of Athena laughed faintly, hugged him and pecked him on the lips. "I love you."_

_His stomach churned. It was a good feeling to hear those words. She's said it before, but he's never gotten over the feeling of happiness that came with those words. "I love you, too." And it was even better to say them back._

Percy awoke in a start. Something was hitting his face. He knew it was water because his strength was filling. He glanced at the pond beside him to see it twirling in a whirlpool-ish manner. Instantly awake, he crouched over the water, trying to see what was happening. The fish had mysteriously disappeared and colors were erupting from it in bursts. Percy knew this wasn't his doing.

The color swirled together and made a city, a city that was in flames. People were screaming, only he couldn't hear them, and buildings were crumbling down. The pool's color mixed again and a new shape surfaced. There was a glass vial filled with this purple-ish misty liquid. The scene changed again, and he saw Prince. The boy was reaching for something Percy couldn't identify because it was kind of blurry. When Prince grabbed the object a bright light shot out of the pool and actually knocked Percy down on his bottom. The light began to recede and Percy leaned over to find that the pond was back to normal. The fish were swimming as if nothing happened. Weird…

Percy's heart was beating a mile a minute as he processed everything. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread and peace. It really was a weird combination together. The dread was there because he was worried about Prince and the peace was from the light that hit him. Prince; what happened to him? Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and looked up.

"Relax, Percy," said his father. Chaos gave him a concerned look. "What's wrong, you looked like you just met Death."

Percy swallowed, contemplating on whether he should tell him. "Um…nothing, just a bad dream."

Chaos gazed at him. "Okay, then, we have something to discuss."

Percy ran a hand through his hair. "Yes?"

"It's about Prince."

The dread came back. "Oh, gods, what happened? Is he alright?"  
"He's fine; he just wants to know if he can go to Earth with you."

Inside, Percy was sighing in respite. "And what did you say?"

His father raised a black eyebrow and scoffed. "You're Prince's guardian, it is your decision."

After what he's seen in the pond, Percy never wanted Prince to leave his sight. He didn't want whatever just happened to happen. Still, he didn't know if what he's seen was good or not, but he'll just have to consider that later. "Yes, he can go with me, so I can keep an eye on him."

Chaos nodded. "And Madison wants to go, too."

Percy scoffed this time. "Well, that is her mom's decision."

He laughed. "Do you want to be the one to ask, or should I?"

"You should. Maggie never says no to you."

"Good, let's get a move on, we still need to figure out exactly who'll be going."

Percy stood up with weak knees, and stretched. "I thought we knew."

"Well, we have to make sure _they_ know."

"I'll get Beatrix and we'll tell some people in Sector 5."

"And I'll tell Sector 1."

"And make sure you let Trevor go."

Chaos smiled. "Don't worry, his time is coming soon."

Percy smiled, knowing that was true.

**Yes! I thought I'd never finish this! I'm sorry this chapter wasn't so good. I now know never to underestimate writer's-block. I couldn't just switch to Annabeth's p.o.v. because I want to do equal chapters. Four for each person. And again, I'm sorry for that wrong chapter I put on earlier. I'm deleting the the A/N. Anyway, OMG its 2013! My friend suggested that when we're older, we should make our kids watch 2012 and say we survived that. Raise your hand if you're gonna do that. ME!**

**From your friendly neighborhood author- WTTW ^x^**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Okay, Kara, bring your elbow back more—that's it. Now, shoot!" Annabeth was currently instructing some of her youngest cabin mates how to properly use a bow and arrow. As expected from the Athena cabin, they were swift learners. She smiled proudly at their first tries. Most didn't hit the bull's-eye, of course, but that was alright. "That was great, guys. You should be hitting the bull's-eye in no time."

Jogging was heard behind her and Jason came up to her, out of breath. "Gods, Annabeth, I've been looking all over for you. Chiron told me to get the immortal campers to the Big House, now, for a meeting."

She arched an eyebrow and told her siblings to pack up. Jason and she began walking to the Big House. "What's the meeting about?"

The son of Jupiter shrugged and skillfully dodged an arrow aimed for his head. A 'Sorry!' was heard behind them and Annabeth guessed that it was the Poseidon kids' turn with the archery range.

Yes, the Big Three decided that it really was pointless to keep their promise after they broke it already, so they had kids. There weren't much, probably about a little more than a handful each. The gods didn't want it to get too out of hand and allow there to be a World War _III. _Sure, the Hades kids were mysterious and kept to themselves, but being with Nico made her used to that. And so what if some of the Zeus's kids had a little of an ego are overdramatic and confident? They could be good friends at times. It was the Poseidon children that actually unsettled her. Not because they were bad people or anything like that, but because they reminded her more about Percy than she wanted them to. How they acted, looked, and even _smelled_ reminded her of her old boyfriend. All had the same se-green eyes and black hair except for the littlest one. None of them could really compare to Percy, though. And, actually, the youngest one was the only one Annabeth could be around.

The youngest of them was Amelia Works. She was about ten years old with the cutest dimples. Like her father, she had black hair, but her eyes were a clear, ocean-blue color. Out of all of her siblings, she was the only one with that. You would often see her carrying her button-eyed, stuffed bear all around camp.

Annabeth and Jason stepped into the Big House. All of the other immortals were already sitting at the Ping-Pong table. Since there were more cabins, they've had to enlarge the table a bit. A seat for every cabin was placed around the table. Except, they were only used if that cabin councilor was needed in a meeting, if not, it was only for the immortals. She sat in her traditional seat and fingered her dagger hilt in her sleeve. She wondered what the meeting was about and why it was so sudden. Then, she noticed the Iris Message at the beginning of the table, with the gods talking amongst themselves. Athena noticed her daughter and told the other gods that everyone was present.

Chiron trotted into the room and all noise from the immortals ceased.

"So," Nico wearily began, "what's the urgent meeting about?" Nico, along with Thalia, Jason, Frank and Hazel had decided to stay at camp for a while after their meeting in Olympus, five days ago, in case they got another lead.

Zeus cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "We had just gotten a message from Lord Chaos. He told us that there is a very powerful enemy of theirs based on Earth. He said he was in need of allies and offered companionship. We accepted because their enemy is said to be powerful enough to destroy us all." He said the last part grudgingly, like he didn't want to admit someone was more powerful than him. "The soldiers are coming to camp in two months. And Perseus will be with them."

The immortals were stunned into silence, not believing what they were hearing. _I guess Percy really is going to keep his promise, _Annabeth thought.

"Wait, Percy is coming to camp? For how long?" Annabeth wondered aloud.

"Probably until their job is done," answered Athena.

"What is their job, exactly?" Frank contemplated.

"They need to defeat their enemy, then, they will go back to wherever they had come from."

"So, Percy's not going to stay?" Connor sadly said. "He's just going to leave again?"

Poseidon sighed deeply. "It's most likely."

Nico banged his fist on the table. "Then we'll just have to convince him to stay!"

Grover bleated. "I agree!"

"But how are we going to get him to stay?" asked a vexed Katie. "Will he even listen to us? What if he has a grudge?"

Clarisse slammed her fist into her other hand. "Then we'll just have to use force!"

Chiron thumped his hoof onto the wall. "Enough! We are not going to _force_ Perseus into staying. It is his decision whether to stay or not and whatever happens—happens, understand?

The demigods hung their heads.

"But," Annabeth said attentively, "we can, at the least, persuade him to stay, right?"

"It's best if you just let him make his own choices," Hestia helped.

"He just can't just leave us again!" Thalia grumbled angrily.

"Thalia," Artemis scolded her lieutenant, "we do not control the boy's life."

"We used to," shrugged Apollo, "but, since he's out of the gods' reach, we can't." Artemis shot her brother a withering look.

"So," said Chiron, "about Chaos's soldiers; do we need to prepare anything?"

Annabeth sat up. "I can build a cabin." From the corner of her eye she saw Thalia roll her eyes, but she let it slide. For now.

"No, no," Hera waved the idea off. "We cannot build a cabin if we don't know how many there will be." The daughter of Athena slumped back in her chair, knowing this was true.

"Do we have any _other _information in the soldiers?" wondered Piper.

Ares snorted from his throne. "Ha! All they told us was that something called Sector 5 and Sector 1 was coming in two _Earth _months."

Jason frowned. "Earth months? What the heck does that mean?"

Annabeth's mom sighed. "Apparently they have no time where they are."

"And _that_ means?"

Zeus huffed. "We will figure all this out in two months, when they are able to answer our questions. Now, the meeting is dismissed." Without saying a goodbye, the sky god ended their connection.

The old centaur exhaled and dragged a hand across his face. "Alright, children—"

"We aren't children!" pouted Leo. "We are thousand-year-old men. Men!" Piper gave him a look that clearly said, _Excuse me?_ "And women! And then there's Clarisse…" He was lucky said daughter of Ares didn't hear that part.

Annabeth stumbled into her cabin. They had just finished explaining to the campers about the new allies. They all had a bunch of question that none could answer. It was also hard to explain that the legendary Percy Jackson would be with them. Almost none could believe it. Some believed he was just a myth. Little Amelia believed with all of her heart, though.

She suddenly jumped when a voice said, "That was torture, huh?" On her bunk was the daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis's hunters.

"Did you let yourself in again?"

"Of course."

Annabeth sighed. "Yes, it was torture."

"They kept asking all these questions and I felt so stupid because I couldn't stinking answer any of them!"

Chuckling, she said, "Did you see Amelia's face when we said Percy was coming back?"

Thalia grinned, lying back so it was facing the back of the top bunk. "Yeah. That girl's precious. Percy would love her."

She hesitated. "Thalia…"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Percy will be different?"

She frowned. "Different how?"

"I mean," Annabeth went to sit next to her friend. "What if he's not like we remember him?"

"Come on, this is Kelp Head we're talking about! How much of him could possibly change?" There was a smidge of ambiguity behind her words.

"It's been a thousand years, Thals." Thalia said nothing. "What if he does hold a big grudge against us? He's an assassin, for Zeus's sake! How could he _not _be different? What if he doesn't like us anymore?"

"Annabeth, you saw the IM, not much has changed."

"He could've been acting! It could've been a whole lie." She knew she was almost at breaking point.

Thalia stood from her spot, standing in front of her and meeting her strong gaze. "You're just being paranoid now. Relax. It'll all be fine."

"How could you be so sure? You don't know if he still loves me or not." With the words finally out, she fell back onto her bed, cradling her head.

"Annabeth, a wise person once told me that if you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's meant to be. If not, it was never yours in the first place."

Annabeth groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. "Ugh. I hate it when you act wise."

"Who's acting?"

She chuckled. "So, what do you mean by that saying?"

"Think about it."

She groaned again. "Why can't—" She abruptly stopped when she realized that Thalia was gone. _I swear, she's as theatrical as Zeus._

**READ A/N!**

**OKAY GUYS that was the ninth chapter. I know it is like extremely short, but it will start picking up in the next few chapters, promise.**

**So, I'm feeling a little discouraged. Why? Because my dad, being the 'computer-wiz' he is, accidentally deleted all my documents. So, I had to copy and paste everything from Fanfiction and re-write my newer chapters. He feels so bad. :'( Anyway, so I feel discouraged because this had happened twice now, so I feel like signs are pointing me away from the road of being an author-or fate just doesn't want me to be one. So, I need your reviews, PLEEEASE! I need to know your thoughts on this story. Tell me with reviews what you like about it so far and what you expect will happen or are hoping will happen. Who knows, I might even pick a few ideas. And I appreciate long, thoughtful reviews. I've also noticed that with each chapter, there's like 100 less viewers every time.**

**To vball 17 girl: Thanks. Yes that is his name. And maybe. Who knows? He could work for Venom if I wanted him to. Thanks for the idea. ;)**

**To Mythomagic 101: Calm yourself. I'll get to that part next chapter. I don't want to rush into it all. It would be sloppy.**

**To Aynonomus Angel: Thanks. And I'm sorry that my updates are a little slow. I'll try to fix that, but I can't promise you anything. And I'm also sorry they aren't long enough. I try to make them at least over 2,000 each. I realize that this chapter is super short, but I just didn't have much inspiration. Hopefully, they'll get longer.**

** See ya!—WTTW #_#**

** P.S. I'm super paranoid and superstitious, and I read something that said if I don't pass it on, I'll die in two days, and considering my luck, don't be surprised if I never update again.**


	10. Chapter 10

***sobs* Why am I crying? Because my cat died. How? A stick of dynamite randomly showed up in her little kitty room. ;) You know who you are! (She's not really dead, so don't freak out. Though, she **_**will**_** one day implode if she gets any fatter.)**

**Just wanted to give a warning saying that the meeting will pretty much suck. :( I really tried, guys. But everything that was good would blow up my story and ruin the plans for my later chapters. Sorry if it just totally rises your disappointment. If you have better ideas, please, let me know.**

Chapter 10

Two months went by uneventfully. The time went by really slowly, probably from the lack of happening. Eventually, it was the day the soldiers' arrival. And Annabeth could practically _taste_ the excitement. It's as if everyone had been storing their excitement within themselves for this day.

Currently, the camp was cooped up in the dinner pavilion, talking loudly. Over at the head table, Chiron got everyone's attention with a few stomps of his hoof. "Lord Chaos's soldiers will be here shortly. And when they arrive, I ask for you not disrespect and/or offend them." His stern, yet gentle gaze traveled over the campers, hesitating at the top pranksters of the Hermes cabin. "Best behavior, understood?"

The campers nodded their heads, murmured in acquiescent, and continued to chatter anxiously. Somewhere, an unfamiliar horn sounded and everyone ceased their talking. Campers turned their heads left and right, trying to figure out where the sound had come from.

"What are you looking for?"

Annabeth pivoted from her place at the Athena table to look at the head table. A girl with dark hair and eyes was sitting on the table with her legs crossed, juggling an apple between her hands. Annabeth instantaneously recognized her as the girl from the Iris Message—Beatrix. No one answered Beatrix.

Footsteps were heard and a guy with red hair and hazel eyes ran into the pavilion. "No fair! I don't have the powers you do!"

"So? I never said I couldn't use them, Trevor. I win!" She bounded off the table.

"By cheating," Trevor muttered under his breath as he walked to stand by Beatrix at the head of the pavilion.

Chiron smiled welcomingly, though Annabeth could tell he was a bit surprised. "Welcome. I presume you are some of Chaos's soldiers."

Beatrix nodded, adopting a serious attitude. "Yes. I am Cornelia Beatrix, but just call me Beatrix; I will not answer to Cornelia. I am the lieutenant of Sector 5 and will be in charge of the Sector 5 soldiers." She jerked her head at her friend. "This is our city's best trainer, Trevor Wigget. We, along with the commander and lieutenant of Sector 1, will be the main consolers of your questions. I—"

"We heard Percy Jackson was going to be here," Clarisse rudely interrupted.

"Yeah, where is he?" Thalia asked.

A camper shouted, "Give up the act! He _can't_ be real!" There were some sounds of agreement. Annabeth scowled at their nonbelief.

Trevor was fuming while Beatrix looked majorly offended. "Percy Jackson? Not real?" Trevor glared. "Kid, he's a _lot_ more real than you will _ever_ be."

"So you do know him?" Annabeth asked hopefully.

"Of course," he laughed. "He's the _prince_." Beatrix gave him a look. "What? I can call him that—he's not here."

"Where is he, then?" Piper asked cautiously.

Beatrix pursed her lips and shared a quick glance with Trevor. "He is busy at the moment, but he'll be sure shortly." By the tone of her voice, Annabeth could tell that she was unsure of her own words. "Now, our soldiers are waiting, should we call them in?"

Chiron nodded his approval. Beatrix brought her fingers up to her lips and whistled—a good, New York-cab whistle. She smirked at Trevor. "Percy taught me that."

Annabeth's brain was about to blow up from all her racing thoughts. Percy was here, well, he was going to be. They know him. He was alive, and okay, and she was happy. For years, she had been so worried about him. She didn't know if he was safe, alive, happy—but after today, she was going to find out and _finally_ feel at ease.

But what was she going to say to him? For all she knew, he could be mad at her and not want to speak to her. Her mind reeled back to Thalia and when she said Percy couldn't have changed much. Deep down, Annabeth knew this was somewhat true, but she couldn't accept it fully. It's been too long for Percy _not_ to be different.

Marching barged into her thinking. Annabeth shared an anxious look with the immortals. Finally, people with cloaks draped around their shoulders and weapons held firmly in hands stood just outside the pavilion. At the moment, hoods covered their eyes, so all Annabeth could see was their mouths and noses. She noticed that half of them wore green cloaks while others wore red. And she didn't have to see the hidden weapons behind their cloaks to know that they were there. From the soldiers' rigid posture, she could tell they were very cautious and would instantly attack if threatened. There had to be about two-hundred soldiers at the least.

Beatrix grinned at the campers awestruck expressions. "Soldiers! This is Camp Half-Blood, where we'll be based at until our little situation is resolved."

Two soldiers in green cloaks stepped away from the group. One pulled down his hood to reveal a guy with brown hair and hazel eyes. "Hello, demigods, I am Hunter, lieutenant of Sector 1. The guy next to me is Jeremiah, commander of Sector 1." Jeremiah nodded.

"You look familiar…" Chiron mumbled, pointing at Hunter. That meant something because Chiron never forgot a face.

"I should hope so. I used to go here."

"You did? Who's your parent?" one of Annabeth's siblings asked curiously.

"Apollo." The Apollo table looked majorly confused, obviously not recognizing him. "But you won't remember me because I'm from 1963."

"1963?" Leo made a face. "How old does that make you?"

"I don't know. I was never good at math. But it makes me older than you, Mr. Immortal." He scrunched up his eyebrows. "When did the gods start throwing immortality around anyway?"

"When we saved the world a bunch of times," Clarisse snorted.

"Saved the world? Man, I really need to catch up with everything. What did you save the world from?"

"Mother Earth, Gaea," Annabeth answered courteously.

Hunter formed his lips into an 'o.' "Oh, well that explains why Chaos didn't let anyone step foot on Earth that one year."

"Yeah," Trevor frowned. "It does."

A very awkward silence settled as the soldiers thought to themselves. Luckily, Chiron saved them. "So, we need to show you around camp. The Immortals will split into groups and give you a tour. Does th—"

The centaur was suddenly interrupted by a little girl with red hair and magenta eyes breaking through the crowd, saying, "I can't take it anymore!" She ran up to Beatrix.

"What's wrong, Madison?" Beatrix asked concerned.

"Ugh! He made me promise, but I just can't hold it in anymore! I feel like something bad is going to happen—to the both of them! He went with him—"

"Who are you talking about?" Trevor questioned.

"Prince!" She gripped on to his forearms. "He_ went with_ Percy!"

"What?" screamed Hunter, Beatrix, Trevor and some other soldiers in horror.

"Why would he do that?" Beatrix frantically asked, lowering herself to Madison's height.

"He told me earlier that he thought something bad was going to happen to Percy, so he said he was going to sneak with him and I was really scared and wanted to come, but he said no and told me not to tell anyone even though he _knows_ I can't keep secrets and—" The little girl paused to catch her breath.

Trevor frowned deeply, eyebrows creasing. "And Prince said that he felt like something was going to happen? Something bad?"

Madison nodded vigorously.

"Uh-oh," muttered Beatrix.

"What should we do?" Hunter asked, glancing between Trevor and Beatrix.

"Don't look at us!"

"What—you're his best friends! What should we do?"

Trevor sighed. "We should wait until we get word from Percy or Prince. Until then, we'll just have to pray and hope they'll survive."

"Should we call Lord Chaos?" Jeremiah spoke.

"No," Beatrix answered. "He has his own problems."

Annabeth paid attention to everything: their expressions, actions, and words. She could tell they were all worried and concerned. She knew Percy was in some sort of trouble—she could secretly feel it, too. And it seemed that the Prince person was in danger, also.

**A/N: …**

**Oookay, that sucked. :'( The chapter was short and sloppy, but it was the only thing that would fit with the next chapter. And I really did try, and I will accept flames—but only for this chapter. I just wanted this posted, so I could just move on to the next chapter—and I promise that one will be longer and more exciting! Percy will appear, but not like you will expect…well, I hope you don't expect it.**

**Also, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes; my spellcheck blonked out and stopped at a certain point.**

**And thank those who reviewed! Last chapter had the most reviews! They really made me smile—but who said anything about quitting? No, I made a commitment, so I will never discontinue my stories. I swear it on the River Styx.**

**Also (again), please check out my other story—The Half-Bloods. It's probably my more proffessional story of the two I currently have and doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Some parts of the first chapter may be a bit tedious, so feel free to dodge those paragraphs. Pleeeease check it out! And my thanks to those who already did and reviewed!**

**If you have any ideas or opinions on this story—please share them.**

**WTTW (Y_Y) I don't know what this face is…**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Percy's p.o.v. **(Yes, I am going to be changing p. . every now and then instead of having a single narrator for every four chapters, because I've been finding that a bit of a difficulty for me.) P.S. **_**Italics **_**mean they're communicating with mental magic.**

Leaves rustled as Percy jumped from one tree to the next. His destination was getting closer with every precise leap. He had always loved climbing on or jumping from trees. To others, he probably looked like a monkey, and that thought always made him chuckle and bring up his mood. And his mood had really needed to be risen from its tomb.

Almost ten minutes before the soldiers and him were supposed to venture off to Camp Half-Blood; Chaos had pulled Percy aside to ask him a favor. "Percy," he had said, "I have a mission for you."

"What? But I'm supposed to go with the soldiers to camp. You said I could—"

"I know what I said, but this is important to our whole battle."

Percy searched his father's eyes quizzically. Over the years, they grew real close; so close that anyone citizen of the Void would believe that they were truly related by blood. And during those years, Percy noticed that his adopted father never begged or pleaded or showed any kind of honest lack of confidence. But right then, Chaos's eyes were wide and desperate and full of plead. This worried and surprised Percy a great deal, so all he could do was nod numbly. He soon found himself being promptly dragged—yes, Chaos had _dragged_ him_—_to the meeting room, where he was forced to take a seat and watch the most powerful person existing pace like a madman. "So, what's got you all worked up?"

Chaos unfolded a blank paper map on the table and brushed his hand along it. A realistic holographic version of the map hovered above it. It worked just like a mobile GPS. Chaos spoke the location: California, Earth, and that was what showed up. He then zoomed up on a blinking yellow dot and pointed, "This is where Venom is based."

He waited. "And…?"

"They're getting closer to where the gem is!"

"Wait, back up. The gem is in _California_?"

"Yes, and I believe they know this, too."

Percy ran a hand through his hair under the hood, groaning. "Great. We haven't even reached Earth and they're already one step ahead…"

His father sat across from him, folding the map. "But, we still have time to prepare. They might not know where the _exact _location, giving us enough time to catch up."

"What is the mission you wanted me to do?"

"I need you to go to their base and find out their plans. Do whatever you have to to slow them down—disguise yourself, sabotage, illusions, anything. A lot is at risk."

Percy stood up and nodded grimly. "I'll be back in a flash, Father."

Before he could step through the portal he had summoned, he felt Chaos's hand on his shoulder. "Percy, be safe. They are very dangerous enemies that _cannot _be underestimated. I would have gone myself, but Maggie says I am not fully healed…and I have learned long ago to never misjudge her."

He smiled reassuringly, taking the advice to heart, and walked through the portal.

So, there he was, just yards away from the base, gazing skeptically.

The enemy base wasn't much. There were many tents pegged into the ground. Percy was sure that there would've been something other than tents if the base wasn't somewhat in public. Men and Shadows alike marched around the campsite either carrying weapons, conversing, carrying some other things, or training. A certain Shadow strode across the clearing, and Percy froze as it stopped dead in its tracks. For a short second, Percy questioned whether he was spotted or not, but then thought differently as the Shadow sneezed and walked away casually.

Letting out a breath of relief, Percy climbed up to the top of the highest tree so he would be in the sunlight. You see, Shadows can feel disturbances and movements in regular shades and shadows, making it hard to sneak by them. So, he had to be in direct sunlight so they can't feel him creeping around. The downside to that, though, was that the humans in the camp would easily notice him. So, to avoid that, he climbed a _tall_ tree. And, this way was also easier for him to scope the scene.

Focusing on the largest tent in the center of the clearing, he willed some magical energy to stretch beyond his being and towards the tent. Within a heartbeat, a small fire began on one of the ropes holding it down and rushed up to enflame the whole thing. Enemies all around started panicking and ran to get pails of water. It was too late—the fire began to spread, jumping from tent to tent like Percy had been with the trees not long ago.

To create more havoc, Percy let his emotions flow as he began an earthquake. Cracks in the ground appeared and sucked in random men and tents. It was kind of funny seeing them flop around like fish and stumbling to get up and walk only to be sucked down in an endless pit…. Maybe he was having too much fun with this. And he was just debating whether or not to summon a hurricane, something when a startled yelp behind him caught his attention.

Looking over the edge of the tree he saw a young boy, leaping out of the way as a crack formed and almost swallowed him. _What is that kid doing here? _he thought as he tried for a closer look. _Wait…Prince! _Immediately, Percy stopped the earthquake and leapt down from the tree.

"Percy!" Prince cried out with his face in the dirt and hands clutching the back of his head as he took cover. He hasn't noticed Percy yet.

"Prince," Percy silently hissed. "What are you _doing_ here?"

The boy looked up with pale-orange eyes. As soon as he saw Percy, he jumped to his feet and hugged him tight. "I came because you're in danger!"

"Danger?" Percy frowned. "Prince, the only one in danger is you for following me." Footsteps were heard behind them, and he pulled Prince through the forest rapidly. He had no time for tree hopping or caring if he went right through the shadows—he needed an open area where he could activate a portal and get Prince to safety.

_Why would he follow me? That was very stupid and ignorant of him. Argh, he gets it from you. _He mentally scoffed. _Look at me; I'm acting as if I was his mother._

"Ahh—!" The rest of the scream was cut short by strangled coughs.

Percy turned sharply, Riptide already uncapped and pointed.

A Shadow held Prince by the throat. Prince kicked and clawed feverishly, but it was useless. All the attacks went right through the monster.

"Leaving so soon, Jackson?" it sneered menacingly. "But this is finally getting good!" It had very distinct dry-red eyes and sharpened teeth. His skin was as black as night and sort of see-through, yet it still had that solid look. His clothes were as black as his skin and his braided hair was also black (gasp)! And finally, a black sword was strung to his hip. Okay, these guys took it way too far with black.

Seeing this particular Shadow, though, brought shards of glass trailing up and down every nerve in his body, telling his brain to run away like a coward. This was the very same monster that had scarred him on his first mission.

The monster growled, "That was a very nice stunt you tried to pull. Good thing we were informed, huh? Else it would've been messy."

It seemed to loosen its hold on Prince as he talked. _Keep the conversation going,_ he told himself_. _"Informed? What do you mean?"

"Oh, yes. We have many helpers hidden amongst you. We were lucky enough for one to find out about your mission. And we used the information they gave us to make a fake campsite for you to destroy."

Traitors… "Well, could you tell me who this traitor is so I can give them a stern talking to?"

It gave him an unimpressed look. "Do you honestly think I'm going to do that?"

"It was worth a shot." He shrugged like, _What're you gonna do?_

"Hmmm, I know you remember me from our last encounter, Perseus—"

"Why does every bad guy call me Perseus? Did all of you take an oath never to say my shortened name or something?"

"—and I remember you," it continued like Percy never interrupted. "So why aren't you afraid?"

"He is," Prince coughed out weakly, "but his bravery and courage covers most of his fear."

The Shadow acknowledged Prince steadily. Prince squirmed and shot glances at Percy, saying that this was the time for him to escape with his ever-changing eyes. Percy frowned and shook his head. "This boy has very interesting eyes. Almost as if…" It paused as if stricken by a sudden realization. "He's an emotion reader!" It unsheathed its sword.

Percy raised his blade protectively and was about to charge when the shadow of a tree wrapped around his own shadow and held him in place. Curse their control over shadows.

"Tell me, boy… Do you feel this?" Percy struggled against his bounds as Prince braced himself. It raised his sword…and slashed down his leg. The gash was deep, yet no blood pooled out. Did Shadows even have blood? Probably not, considering their flesh was actually made out of shadows. Even though there was no blood, the monster had to bite back a howl. Still in its grip, Prince winced and shuddered. "Answer me," the Shadow snarled venomously.

"Yes. Your emotion was pain," mewed Prince helplessly.

"Hmmm…so my thoughts were correct." He dropped Prince to the ground, but held him by his shoulders so they were face-to-face. "The likes of you are very rare, you know. I haven't seen someone like you since the Dark Ages—and for one to be so young, outstanding!"

"I'm not young," Prince scowled.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, kid."

"Hey," Percy grunted. The hold he was in was beginning to tighten uncomfortably.

"Oh, yes. Almost forgot about you, Perseus." The monster snapped and the bounds disappeared, only to encase Prince. "Now, I have a proposition for you."

Percy stayed put for the Shadow's blade was still out and could easily injure Prince. "And it is?"

"I will spare your life, if you willingly give the boy over."

Prince stared at Percy with red eyes full of fear. "What will you do to him?"

It smiled devilishly, circling the boy. "I suppose that you already know we're able to turn humans into us, yes?"

Squinting, he nodded.

"Well, this is how the process goes: first, we chain the human to a cross where the sunlight shines on all of their features; then, we painfully remove the person's shadow. After that, we burn the body at the stake, because a person without their shadow is not a person at all. You see, shadows could live without the human, but not vice versa." He reached down to pet Prince's fear-stricken face. "And I think this boy's shadow will be very valuable."

"You're crazy! I'm not giving him to you just so you can burn him alive and use his shadow as a puppet! I wouldn't give him to you even if you just wanted to have tea!"

"Well then, force was my preferred choice anyway." It raised his black sword and jabbed, as fast as a snake striking.

"No! Wait!"

The blade stopped right in front of Prince's chest. The boy looked about ready to pass out right there.

"Wouldn't you rather have my shadow instead?"

"No, Percy!" Prince shouted.

"You would give your life to protect this boy?" The monster paused to consider.

"Come on," Percy tempted, "think of all that you could do with the son of Chaos's shadow. You could bring the human race to their _knees_."

The Shadow had dazed eyes, like he was imagining all the people bowing at his feet. Over the years, Percy studied these creatures and their intuitions and personalities. And he had discovered that all they craved for was power. They wanted it, needed it, and would do anything to gain it, even if it risked their own existence. These monsters couldn't care less for anything. They were worse than the gods, who used to be at the top of the list for being self-important. Being power-hungry was their own fatal flaw. Now, Percy had him right where he wanted. "I accept—"

"But, you have to fight me and draw blood before I turn myself in."

It growled and gnashed its teeth together. "Fine! Anything to see mortals cringing in terror at my feet." It raised its sword in Percy's direction and got into a fighting stance.

"Nuh-uh, not until you release Prince."

It grumbled, but did as it was told. With a glance, Percy told Prince to get to safety. The boy didn't object as he ran behind a tree. The two warriors eyed each other.

Percy had made a stupid choice. How was he supposed to win, if he couldn't even _touch _the monster? He had no chance. But, it would be worth it if he just got Prince to safety. That was his goal. And with that, the battle began.

He was lucky the monster's sword was solid and he was able to block it, or else he would've been sliced in half. And as he strained to keep the blade away from his flesh, he realized that you shouldn't really worry about the fact that you couldn't touch them, but you should worry about its strength because these things were _strong_. All they must've done was train. Of course, Percy was ten times stronger and skilled with his sword since his own training, but that didn't mean fighting the thing wasn't hard.

He hacked, ducked, dodged, and parried. Percy knew he had to keep his focus, but he stretched his power over to Prince who was still behind the tree.

_Prince,_ Percy said telepathically.

"Percy?" Prince called from behind the tree.

Percy tried not to roll his eyes. That was what everyone did the first time. _Say your words in your head and I'll hear._

_Okay, _was his answer.

_Listen carefully: there is a portal behind you that I opened. Go through it and you'll be safe._

_But that would mean leaving you._

_Yes, I know._

_Then, no! I can't leave you! You'll be killed…and I'll be all alone again._

He thought of how to respond to that while he blocked another blow. _Prince…I promise you that I'll see you again. But right now, you have to get to safety. You'll be teleported to my dad's office. When you're there, tell him—"_

_No! I am not leaving you!_

He couldn't answer. During their little argument, the Shadow had caught him off guard and slashed up Percy's arm. Howling, Percy's hood fell back as he clutched his wounded arm and fell onto his rear. His mask was revealed when the hood fell. He consciously felt the portal disappear.

Normally, he didn't wear a mask under his hood, but he put one on for when he thought he was going to Camp Half-Blood.

It sneered as it loomed over him. "Ah, yes. I suppose you wear that mask to hide the little mark I left on our last encounter."

"No, I wear it because I'm secretly Batman," Percy barely managed to choke out.

"Don't you play games with me, boy!" It gripped Percy's hair and brought its cold steel blade to his neck. "There are powerful people at work and lots of ploys being made. This is war—something that cannot be treated as a game!"

Percy failed to speak. The pain from his arm was beginning to _blind _him. _Completely unbearable_. And he was losing blood fast.

The Shadow sniffed haughtily. "Now, I believe I had drawn blood." It pulled on Percy's bloody arm and brought him to his feet, earning a yelp from Percy. "I hope you like fire!"

"No!" Prince stumbled from behind the tree. "You can't have him!"

Showing off its fangs, it said, "And who's going to stop me, kid?"

Putting on a brave face, the boy charged. In Percy's eyes, it all went in slow motion. The monster didn't have any time to pull back when Prince grabbed the arm that was holding Percy. And as soon as Prince and the Shadow were in contact, a bright, white light emanated from the boy. The light engulfed everything in the vicinity, stretching out in all directions. It felt as powerful as the gods' light when they turned into their true form. That's what gave him the instinct to cover his eyes. Even though it had the same power as the gods, the light didn't leave the same lasting feeling as the gods. No, this light left a feeling of ease and hope.

It was just like the vision from the pond.

The Shadow was screaming during the whole episode. And when the light subsided, the monster was nowhere in sight. Prince was curled up in a ball on the ground. With little strength, Percy crawled over to him, turning him over so he could see him clearly, only to freeze when he saw the knife in his stomach. "Prince?"

"Mmhumm…" Good, that meant he was still alive.

"Prince, stay awake, pal. I'll get you out of here."

"Is he—is—?"

"Yes, he's gone." He couldn't have him wasting breath. "How did you do that?"

The boy could only shake his head weakly. It must've taken a lot out of him. And adding a knife to the stomach did nothing to help.

A noise to his left caught his attention. It sounded like leaves crunching under someone's feet. _Great_, he though. _Just perfect; looks like we're going to have unwanted company._ With the very last of his strength, Percy scooped Prince in his arms, wincing when he touched his injury. He began to run.

Now, over the years, he had been trained to run as fast as a cheetah chasing after prey. But running with an unconscious boy in his arms, and a rapidly bleeding wound, was something new to him. The magic inside him was beginning to fade, he could tell, but it wasn't because of his blood loss. He's experienced all sorts of poisons and toxins before, and this was something that he's never felt. Even when he was in comatose state from the toxins, no poison ever ebbed at his magic as it was doing now.

Knowing there wasn't much longer until his magic was gone completely, he mentally contacted the one person that could help him in these situations: Beatrix. He felt Beatrix's familiar thoughts in his own and said, _Beatrix! Help!_

There was a short pause where Percy felt her confusion. _Percy? Where are you? What's wrong?_

He leaped over a log. _I-I need your help, Bea. There's no time to explain, but Prince is hurt and I need you to open a portal! _A throwing knife whizzed past his ear. _Hurry!_

_Wait—What about Prince—Percy, don't you hang up on—!_

Too late. His connection died fast and the last bit of energy drained out of him. He barely had the strength to dodge another soaring knife. Prince whimpered in his arms. "Beatrix, if you don't open a portal in the next second," he uttered under his breath, "I swear…" He left it at that because, honestly, he didn't know what he'd do.

(Annabeth's p.o.v.)

After Madison made her revelation about Percy and the boy named Prince, Chiron put the soldiers and immortals into touring groups. At the moment, she was walking with a dozen soldiers past the arena and along the border of the forest, explaining Capture the Flag.

"Sounds fun," Trevor said, trailing his hand over a tree branch.

Someone in the far back of the group asked, "When do you play?"

"On Fridays," Annabeth answered. "We'll play again this Friday too. It'll be soldiers versus the campers, that is—if you're up for the challenge." She smiled when many scoffed. This was something she would do to get the newer campers pepped and competitive.

"Oh, we're up for it!" one cried indignantly.

"Yeah," shrugged Beatrix, who was also in the group, "it doesn't sound too hard."

"Don't underestimate us," she sensibly warned. "We have some pretty powerful people in our camp."

Beatrix gazed at her as if this was a challenge. "And so do we, so this is going to be an exciting game."

"Very," agreed Annabeth with a grin. She was anxious to see how the soldiers fought. She knew they were highly trained and prepares for anything. Maybe they could teach the campers some moves because if there were to be war, they would need a lot of training.

A bit later, she was leading them through the cabins, explaining what each god or goddess each cabin represented and the kids that lived there. From time to time, there would be exclamations and comments like: "That's too bright," or even "I can practically _see_ the perfume cloud coming from that one."

And at one point, they had rounded upon the Poseidon cabin.

"This is Cabin Three; home to Poseidon's children." Annabeth pointed at it.

"Wow. So this is where Percy stayed before he came to the Void?" Trevor asked in wonder.

"Yes." She tried to lead them away before they could ask any more questions about Percy. They've been good so far with not mentioning Percy. But, luck wasn't on her side.

"Can we go inside?" Beatrix walked delicately to the cabin door, looking at it as if it was trying to speak to her.

Annabeth glanced at the sky, questioning whether strangers in his cabin would anger Poseidon. She doubted it, since he was one of the understanding gods, but that didn't make her any less weary. "I suppose so. Just don't damage or steal something, though." She carefully followed the soldiers inside, watching the quizzically. It's only been a couple of hours since their arrival—she can't trust them yet.

They were dangerous—she could tell by their powerful aura. But they acted so normal. They acted as if they were normal people (most of them were teens and young adults, she had noticed) and not elite warriors from a non-existing (yet still there) planet.

Luckily, there were no Poseidon children in the cabin at the moment, so they were all able to fit. She let them wander and look around while she went over to a single bed in the corner: Percy's old bunk. Yeah, it was still there. Exactly how it was the day they discovered him missing. No one could find the heart to pack up all of his stuff. So, they all agreed to leave it as some sort of shrine. Even now, dead flowers laid on the nightstand by his bed and pillow.

Absentmindedly, Annabeth sat down on the bed and thought quietly to herself. Of course, those said thoughts were off Percy. When were they not? What Madison had said about Percy being in danger didn't surprise her. Trouble always seemed to follow Percy down every ally and corner, like a personal stalker. And in the end, it always caught him in its grasp.

"His room in the castle is bigger," Trevor noted.

"A bit," said Beatrix, who was trailing her hand along a wall covered in reflecting seashells. "But I like the flow of this. Feels real homey." For a reason unknown to Annabeth, Trevor chuckled.

Then, Beatrix went to stand by the bed she was sitting on. "Is this his old bed?"

Annabeth nodded. The other soldiers came over when they saw this and stared at something by her head. Following their gazes, she found that they were looking at the wall where dozens of pictures were randomly placed and withered from age. She remembered how much Percy loved these pictures. He had said that he wanted one of everyone he knew.

There were many pictures sprawled all around that wall. There were some of Nico, Thalia, Chiron, herself, Rachel, Clarisse, Grover, Tyson, and many others. There was this really beautiful one of Katie, walking aimlessly through the strawberry fields, a smile gracing her features as the gentle wind blew her hair back. There was a goofy photo of Rachel, making a fishy face and another of her covered from head to toe in different shades of paint. Annabeth remembered that day: the Stolls had surprised Rachel in her cave while she was painting and she tripped over something, spilling all her paints on herself. Percy had taken the picture when she ran out of the cave with a murderous gleam in her eye, and chased the Stolls.

Then, there was a picture of Grover and Juniper, smiling at the camera while sitting under a willow tree. Annabeth smiled at a picture of Nico, sleeping in his cabin, with his hair tousled from sleep and a peaceful look on his face. There was even one of Sally and Paul, asleep on the couch together, with a blanket over them and the ghostly TV light flickering. In one, Tyson was crushing Grover in a hug while Juniper laughed in the background, and also Tyson chasing Ella. In another, there was one of Clarisse shredding away at dummies in the training arena.

A picture of herself caught her eye. She was sketching blueprints by the lake, her tongue sticking out the corner of her lips as she concentrated and with hair sticking out of her ponytail. She smiled at the picture. At the time, she was so busy with her sketching; she didn't even know Percy was there with a camera until she heard the _click! _She had tried to get the photo back, but Percy told her that it was one of the most beautiful pictures he'd ever seen. That had totally caught her off guard and he ended up keeping it. She didn't have the heart to take it back.

There were other photos: one of Rachel and Percy doing a superhero pose—Percy going for the classic Spiderman pose while Rachel went with the traditional Wonder Woman appeal; one of Travis and Connor picking the lock to the camp store; Nico, playing fetch with Mrs. O'Leary; and then there was one of Percy and her at the Fireworks, lying in the sand while explosions of color reflected off their content smiles.

And then there were some after the Giant War. There was one of Leo, posing with his hair on fire; Jason, flying like the blond Superman he is; Piper, with her horn of plenty spewing out sandwiches at a camp picnic. There was a hilarious one of Frank in a goldfish bowl—as the goldfish. In another, Hazel was riding Arion with a very nauseous-looking Nico. And there was this really crazy one of Nico, Thalia, and Percy chasing after the Stolls along with Leo. The Big Three cousins had deadly weapons in their hands… and different colored hair. Nico's was a bold yellow, Thalia's was a hot pink, and Percy's was a blood red. The Stolls and Leo had gotten their butts whooped after pulling that stupid prank. And right next to that one, there was a picture of Percy scowling as Rachel laughed at him, saying that he looked like her.

And then there were snapshots of Annabeth. She was in quite a lot of photographs. It was either of her alone or with a friend or with Percy. There were just too many to count.

"Wow," Beatrix muttered under her breath, "he looks so…_happy._"

Trevor nodded. "There's a bunch of you, Annabeth."

_Yeah, I know_, she thought, skimming her eyes from picture to picture. There came a bittersweet feeling with seeing these pictures again. They brought back memories that filled her to the brim with warmth. But, the warmth was only to be brought down by a shivering cold.

Beatrix caught everyone's attention when she suddenly stiffed. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes told Annabeth a different story. They were darting around crazily around the room, looking like she was desperately searching for something.

"Trixie?" Trevor waved a hand in front of her face. "Are you okay?"

"Percy?" she asked in sudden recognition.

"Um, no, it's Trevor."

"Where are you? What happened?" Everyone remained silent and Beatrix appeared to be listening. "Wait—what about Prince—Percy, don't you hang up on—Percy!"

"What," Annabeth said, trying to gain the girl's attention, "was that?"

"Do you— Nevermind, I have to hurry!" Beatrix then ran out of the cabin, pushing through the soldiers in her way. Trevor and Annabeth shared a confused glanced, before racing after her, followed by the others.

Annabeth found Beatrix at the center of the cabins. A crowd was beginning to form slowly, wondering what all the haste was about.

Through the whole scenario, Thalia found Annabeth and clamped her hand on her arm. "What happened now?"

"I have no idea. We were in Cabin Three when—"

"Wait, you went _into_ Cabin Three?"

"Yes. Anyway, Beatrix went into some sort of trance, somehow talking to Percy, and then she ran out."

The daughter of Zeus's blue eyes bugged. "She talked to Percy? How?"

Annabeth didn't answer because Beatrix decided that now was the time to unsheathe her sword and slash it haphazardly through the air. A misty black tear split the air. She recognized it as the portal Percy had used in the Iris Message so long ago.

All prattling stopped when a lone figure jumped out. Then, there was gasping.

Percy Jackson, alive and in the flesh, was standing there as the portal behind him sealed itself. He was carrying someone in his arms, swaying on his feet, as if he would drop at any minute. His eyes behind a mask showed immense pain.

At the sight of him, Annabeth almost fell to her knees and thanked the gods. And she would have too; if there want something gnawing at her. Something was off. The light in his eyes were dimming with every breath. Quickly, Beatrix studied Percy and took the person he was holding in her own arms. She gasped sharply.

Trevor ran past Annabeth and was there just in time to catch Percy in his arms as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

She couldn't take it anymore—she ran.

"Is that—?" a camper gawped.

"No, it couldn't be," said another.

"But he looks—"

"Those eyes—"

"Wow." Accusations and observations were thrown around as more began to gather.

"Thalia!" she called over her shoulder. Her friend had been frozen in place like the rest of the campers. It was just like when Thalia turned back from a tree. Everyone was rooted to the ground, confused, just like then. "Get some Apollo kids!" She didn't look back to see if Thalia had heard.

She finally reached Percy, who had been gently laid on the floor. Trevor and Beatrix stared at both of the comatose bodies.

The smaller one in Beatrix's arms looked around the age of eight. Blood gushed from a wound in his stomach. She could only guess that this was the boy who followed Percy on his mission—Prince.

Percy looked awfully clammy and was shaking. A slash on his upper arm was bleeding profusely. She crouched by his side and laid a hand on his forehead, only to pull it back, surprised by the amount of heat. He was burning up. "Guys," she snapped the two soldiers out of their shock, "we need to get them to the infirmary. Now."

"Right," Beatrix croaked weakly.

"Prince!" Madison broke out of the crowd and stared at the boy lying motionless in Beatrix's arms. "Oh, oh, no…" Tears formed at the corner of her catlike eyes.

During this, Trevor sprang into action. He tore part of his sleeve and pressed it onto Prince's stomach, trying to stop the blood flow. He gave Madison instructions: "Madison, get your mother. I don't think Percy's condition is normal." The girl ran off, hesitant to move her eyes away from Prince.

Annabeth glanced back down at Percy to see him turning his head back and forth, as if trying to say no, while his fingers twitched and dug into the dirt.

No medics had come, so she assumed that Thalia didn't hear her orders to get the Apollo campers. Or maybe they were still frozen. "Come on, someone help me carry him to the infirmary."

Beatrix carefully handed Prince to Trevor so he could still put pressure onto the wound, and helped Annabeth, who hooked her own arms under his. With the help of Beatrix, Annabeth rushed Percy to the infirmary, Trevor right behind. In the infirmary, they gingerly laid Percy on a bed right beside Prince's. It wasn't long before the immortals, Chiron and some Apollo kids busted through the door. The Apollo kids immediately set to work on the injuries.

"What happened, Annabeth?" Chiron asked.

She decided to brief it. "Percy went through a portal Beatrix had opened carrying him," she gestured to Prince, "then passed out."

"So he really is back…"

"Is he supposed to be that pale?" Jason asked, concerned.

Trevor frowned. "We don't know what's wrong with him yet."

"We sent for Maggie," Beatrix sighed, "but it'll be a while before she arrives because of her fear of the portals."

"So, how did you actually hear Percy?" Thalia raised an eyebrow.

The girl sighed again and rubbed her eyes with her palm. "His voice just suddenly sounded in my head. He sounded like he was running fast and tired. The connection was very weak and I could barely make out what he was saying. But I caught the gist of it: He said he needed my help and that Prince was hurt and he needed me to open a portal. After that, I heard nothing else."

Annabeth watched grimly as Percy twitched. She didn't know what happened to get him in this state, but she could tell it would have a lasting effect.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Hazel sisterly asked.

"I haven't seen anything like this before." Trevor looked into Beatrix's eyes guiltily. "Should we get Chaos?"

She frowned gloomily. "No. I wouldn't want to see him when he finds out. Besides, he's got enough stress with the sudden attacks on the based camps."

"Attacks?"

"Yeah, it seems like the Shadows are multiplying."

His jaw dropped. "Why wasn't I told of this?"

"Sorry," she shrugged. "It was supposed to be kept a secret, so you're lucky I even told you."

Trevor huffed.

Will got everyone's attention from Prince's bed. "Do you think we should give him ambrosia?"

"That might not be safe," Chiron answered. "Do you know if he is even a demigod?"

"Ambrosia?" Beatrix asked. "What's that?"

"It's the food of the gods," Will said as he wrapped one last bandage around Prince's stomach. "It could heal you if you're a demigod. If you aren't, or if you eat too much of it, you'll burn up. Er, literally."

"Oh."

"Let's not give it to him," confirmed Trevor. "He was not found on Earth, so I presume he has no godly blood."

"Okay then," Will muttered. "Then there isn't much more we can do. He lost a lot of blood. We should just let him rest." He turned to Percy. "As for Percy, we gave him some nectar and patched up his arm, but he'd lost blood, too. Let's let them rest."

Everyone, except for Beatrix and Trevor, filed out of the infirmary. Annabeth hesitated a bit, not wanting to leave his side.

"You can stay if you want to, Annabeth," Trevor welcomed kindly. She saw Beatrix give him a glare.

The daughter of Athena shot him a grateful smiled as she sat in a chair by Percy's bed. Now, she finally took a good look at him.

Sweat drenched his brow, but he looked slightly better. His hair jet-black hair was as messy as she remembered it, but a bit shorter, so he lost a bit of his skater-boy look. He was wearing the dark black robes as in the IM, but he didn't have his hood up. A sleek black—almost blue—mask covered the area around his eyes.* His right arm was bandaged. He had more muscle than the last time she saw him, but he wasn't ridiculously muscled

She wanted to brush his bangs off of his face, but she restrained herself. There were others present. And for seconds they just sat there, thinking to themselves.

Finally the silence was broken when Beatrix asked, rather bluntly, "You were his girlfriend, weren't you?"

She smiled sheepishly. "How'd you guess?"

"The pictures. Plus, from how concerned you are."

"Anyone would be concerned for him."

"In the pictures…you two looked real happy together," Trevor said softly. "What was it that made you split?"

She frowned and crinkled her eyebrows. "Did he not tell you?"

They shook their heads. "No," Beatrix said dejectedly. "He didn't like talking about his past much."

Annabeth took in a breath, deciding on where to begin. "Um…well, one day, Percy had a problem with this certain camper. He thought that the camper was a traitor and a spy. I didn't really believe him. And when no one else believed him, I tried to talk some sense into him." She paused shakily. "And he said something…that really made me mad. I said some mean things and told him to leave. He did. And he tried to get to me and apologize, but my pride didn't allow me to forgive him."

Not known by her, a tear trailed down her cheek. "I-it was technically all my fault. If I had just stood by him… I drove him away. He left because I made him feel neglected and unwanted." She grabbed a fist full of hair and clamped her eyes shut. Saying the truth hit her hard. "I shouldn't have gotten angry over a silly comment—that may have actually been true! Curse my hubris—it was my entire fault!"

A soft hand pulled hers away from her hair and a strained voice coughed, "It was never your fault."

Annabeth looked up with a tearstained face and puffy eyes. Percy looked at her with regret and guilt etched in his features. She squeezed his hand tight. "Yes, it was!"

"No," Percy painfully brought himself into a sitting position. "Annabeth it was mine."

"Stop taking the blame for my mistake. Not everything is your fault!*" Behind her, she heard the infirmary door shut close, so she assumed Beatrix and Trevor left to give them privacy.

"Annabeth—" She was going to interrupt, but he cupped her face, stopping her in her tracks. "Listen, what I had said that day was harsh and uncalled for. I should've known better than to open my big mouth. I hated making you upset. And when things continued to go downhill, I ran away from my problems like a coward."

"You are no coward, Percy Jackson," she objected sternly.

"No, I am a coward in more ways than one. I left my home with no warning or letter explaining my sudden departure because I thought no one would care. It was a reckless thing to do. And, I was being selfish for wanting to be noticed."

She shook her head desperately. "But if I had just_ listened_…"

He cracked a smile. "Gods, you're still stubborn. We both share the blame, okay?"

She answered him with a hug. He hugged back, though he was a bit tense at first. "Yes, okay." She hugged tighter. "I've misses you so much, Percy."

"I've missed you more." He pulled away and sweetly wiped the remaining tears away.

She smiled. _Doubt it._ "Percy…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you forgive me?"

"Annabeth, I've forgiven you a long time ago."

"And the others?"

This time he paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "Some like Jason and Hazel and Piper didn't even know about my problem, so I have no reason to be mad at them. But sometimes I can't help but feel…"

"Bitter?" she tried.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"For years I blamed everyone else before I accepted it was my fault. And even after that, I felt the same way."

He nodded, understanding. "So…what happened after I blacked out?"

"It took a while, but after everyone got over their shock, we carried you and Prince to the infirmary."

Percy's face paled by a noticeable amount. His eyes clouded in fear and worry. "Prince! Oh, how could I have been so _stupid_? Where is he?"

"He's on the bed to your right—"

She didn't get the chance to finish, because he fumbled off his bed and onto the hard floor. He groaned when he landed on his arm and crawled to the bed holding Prince. There, he was on his knees as and gazed at the boy sadly. "Is he…"

"He's going to be alright," Annabeth assured, even though she didn't know if her words were true, and kneeled by his side. "He just lost a lot of blood—both of you did. Trevor told a girl named Madison to get someone named Maggie."

"Oh, good," he breathed. With an outstretched hand, he swiped Prince's bangs off his face just like Annabeth had wanted to do to him not too long ago. "This is my fault. I should've paid attention."

Annabeth stayed silent. She didn't know exactly what had happened, so she couldn't say it wasn't his fault. So, she just went with placing a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

Percy grabbed the boy's small hand in his larger ones and closed his eyes. "Why didn't you just leave me?"

"Percy, if you don't mind me asking, what happened on your mission?"

He stayed quiet. For a second, Annabeth wondered if he had fallen asleep, but then her thoughts changed when he took a steady breath and told her the story. Throughout it all, she only interrupted once to ask what Shadows were. And during this, his eyes never left Prince.

At the end, she could tell Percy wasn't telling her something. She didn't press, though. "Sounds to me like Prince is special."

"He is," Percy nodded. "Very."

"Do you know what the light was?"

"Not a clue. I don't think he knew what he was doing at the time."

Annabeth bit her lip, a question poking at her. "How did you two meet?"

"Who? Me and Prince?"

"Yeah. You seem very fond of him—like he was your son…" That's what been gnawing at her. The boy couldn't actually be his…son, right?

"On one of my missions, I found a poor, abused, servant boy in an underground cell. He was skinny, bruised, and bloody. Oh, I _hated_ that king." He shook his head disgustedly. "You should have seen the look Prince gave me when I first opened his cell. Even though he was bruised all over, he brought himself to his full height—which wasn't much, considering he was only six—and stared at me with these eyes that showed such defiance. He had the eyes of a warrior who has been to Hell and back. But, I saw right through his façade. Behind that was a six-year-old boy desperate, hungry, weak, in pain, and lonely."

Percy ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly. "I promised him that I would take him to a home where he would be loved and cared for. I said I would always protect him. I promised. And look where he is now."

"You did what you could. He doesn't expect you to change fate itself."

"I know." He yawned greatly and rubbed his right eye.

Annabeth stood up. "You should get some rest."

"I can't rest, Prince—"

"—will be here when you wake up," she finished.

"But I'm not tired." He stood up, too.

"Do I need to remind you how much blood you've lost?"

"I'd rather you not."

"Then sleep."

Sighing, he crumpled onto the bed's sheets, staring up at the ceiling.

"Was that so hard?" she teased.

"Yes. Yes, it was. Now imagine how hard it'll be for me to actually close my eyes."

"Nonsense, you need to blink once in a while, right?"

He chuckled. Annabeth turned to leave, but Percy grabbed her hand. It might've been her imagination, but she thought she felt a shock when their fingers touched. She raised an eyebrow as a blush crept up his face. "Um…could you, maybe, stay with me? Just till I fall asleep, please? You don't have to, I mean. It's fine that you're busy—"

She laid down next to him on the covers. The bed was just big enough for the both of them, although if Percy turned, their noses would most likely touch.

He smirked. "I take that as a 'yes'?"

For a while, they caught up on everything. Annabeth told him about the newer campers, being immortal, the changes of the mortal world and the gods, and in turn, Percy told her about the Void, how he became the son of Chaos, his job as assassin and his new life. One time, the topic changed and Annabeth asked about his mask.

"What about it?"

"Why do you wear it?"

He noticeably grimaced and she instantly regretted asking. "Remember that Shadow I talked about earlier, the one that hurt Prince?"

"Yeah."

"On my first solo mission, that same Shadow attacked me and made a lasting scar. I didn't want anyone to think differently of me if they see it, so I hide it behind a mask or my hood."

"Oh." She could only imagine what it looked like.

After that, they continued on with their conversation, until it got to a point where all Percy was doing was yawning. Eventually, he fell asleep.

Annabeth stayed awake, still staring at the boring ceiling as if it was the most entertaining thing in the world. Her mind was reeling. It felt so normal to have Percy here with her again. It almost felt like her best friend had never left. It felt like he was just on vacation or something, but for a really long time. She had missed their laughs, their jokes, their conversations; she's missed his arms around her, and the way his eyes sparkled when near the beach. Feeling him sleep next to her seemed to relieve all of her stress and worries. Seeing him again was worth being immortal, in her opinion.

Now, the only challenge left is to keep him here.

**DONE! You can thank me now.**

**So, I understand some might be mad at me for not updating in a while, but life's gotten to me hard. I've been grounded twice since my last update. And, there was this whole drama with my mom's possible pregnancy, and I was really sad when it was a negative. It feels like little baby Anthony was here, but then died. :'( I miss him, so.**

**So, to make up for my absence, I gave you all a super long chapter.**

*** A lot of you have asked why the gods were able to recognize Percy, well, I realized that I had forgotten to mention the mask in that chappie. Hehehe, whoops! I described it sort of, but if you don't like it, then you can imagine whatever, I leave it to you to imagine what the mask looks like.**

*** And give me your thoughts, who's fault do you think it is: Percy's or Annabeth's?**

**I feel like this chapter was so uncoordinated, but I wanted to get something up before you all started a riot or something. If you see any mistakes or have advice, tell me, please!**

**Also, thanks to: PurpleGoddess9, Maddy S (who is now Thals), Proxima103, newfoundedfantasy, BookDevourer52, zerowinz, aesir21, terrified-littlehero, Angelwingz324, bluelightningbug, and Zeus795! And SPECIAL thanks to The Queen of Valencia Torgue! You're awesome! If you like the Underland Chronicles, go check out her stories! Especially the crossover with Percy Jackson.**

**And if I get around 120 reviews, although I'm sure I won't, I'll update very quickly.**

**See ya soon (hopefully)!—WTTW! $_$ R.I.P Little Baby Anthony. Although I've never met you, I still love you. **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

(Annabeth's p.o.v.)

Annabeth woke up about an hour or two later, and found herself in a weird position. Percy was lying next to her, an arm wrapped around her waist and their legs tangled up. A blush engulfed her face. _What would someone think if they just walked in now? What if someone had already walked in and is now spreading rumors? _At that thought, she pulled back a little bit, untangling her legs gently to not wake him up. But, she realized, that was pretty pointless because right then, the stupid infirmary door decided to slam open.

Percy gave a startled grunt and thrashed over the side of the bed. From the floor, he gave a groan.

At the door stood a laughing Trevor, a glaring Beatrix, a confused Madison, a smiling centaur, and a woman with red hair and yellow cat eyes.

"See," Beatrix huffed, "I told you we shouldn't have left them alone."

If it was possible, Annabeth's face flushed even more.

Percy sat up, rubbing the back of his head while using the back of his other hand to wipe away drool, and gave them all an irritated glance. "Relax, nothing happened. We were just sleeping."

"On the same bed?" Chiron raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms amusedly.

"We're sorry, it won't happen again," Annabeth spoke before Percy could.

"Oh, don't ruin their fun," the woman with red hair smiled. "They are—what?—thousands of years old?"

"Gee," Percy said sarcastically, "thanks for making me feel _so_ _young,_ Maggie. I appreciate it."

"Anytime," Maggie said cheerfully, not catching the sarcasm.

"Shouldn't we check on Prince now?" asked an impatient Madison.

"Sure, honey."

Everyone gathered around the boy's bed. Maggie felt his forehead, frowning at the bandages. "What caused the wound?" she asked no one in particular.

"A knife," answered Percy. "A Shadow stabbed him."

Maggie brushed her fingers on the bandages, earning a small squeal from Prince. "Looks like the wound is pretty deep and he lost a lot of blood. He should heal, but you know about the curse—once wounded by a Shadow, the scar never goes away. I recommend not stressing him out or making him move too much." She brushed her hands and looked around quizzically. "Was that all I was needed for? Because if that long ride over here was for nothing—"

"No," Trevor shook his head. "We sent for you to check on Percy. He was twitching and freaking out yesterday after he was passed out."

"I was?" Percy questioned.

"Yeah, you looked like a fish out of water," Beatrix laughed.

Maggie reached over the bed and felt Percy's own forehead. Pursing her lips, she said, "You don't feel warm, but I notice you have bandages, too. What for?"

"The Shadow also got me."

She nodded, glancing between the two injured boys. "Come here," she beckoned to Percy at the other side of the bed. "Let me check something."

Cautiously, Percy went to her side, shooting his friends anxious glances. Maggie used her fingers to widen his eyes and stared into them. "You look drained. How did you feel when you were stabbed?"

"Um…I felt like all my power was being flushed down the toilet. And I got weak really fast."

"Okay…do me a favor and show me the memory of your mission with your magic."

Annabeth watched as Percy tentatively closed his eyes and stuck out his hand for Maggie. His look showed doubt. Maggie held his hand, examining his expressions with a grim look of her own. After about a minute, Percy released her hand with a pained grunt, a bead of sweat on his forehead.

"I—I couldn't do it. Something's blocking me. It hurt."

Maggie nodded like she'd expected this. "I see. It looks like your powers are temporarily gone."

"What?" Trevor all but shrieked. "That's impossible. Are you telling me that they had somehow created a new poison that takes away power?"

"That is what it looks like," Maggie shrugged helplessly.

"Great! _Just _great. That is _exactly _what we needed—our best fighter down."

"Dude, calm down," Percy said. "I can still fight, just not with magic."

"Oooh, no, mister." Maggie wagged a finger at him. "I forbid you to fight while you are in this state. It will only extend the time till you get your powers back."

"But Capture the Flag is tomorrow," Beatrix said disappointedly.

"I don't know what that is, but if it involves swinging a sword, then he cannot participate."

When everyone left, and Chiron finished talking to Percy, Annabeth gave him a knowing look. "You're still going to play, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

He grinned cheekily. "You know me so well."

(Percy's p.o.v. )

For the rest of the day, Percy stayed in the infirmary to watch Prince. It seemed like forever until the boy finally opened his eyes.

"Percy?" his small voice sounded.

"Prince!" Percy exclaimed, jumping to the side of his bed. "Finally, you're awake."

"Are—are you okay?" The boy coughed.

He laughed, happy to hear his voice. "I should be asking you that, pal. How do you feel? You've been out for a while."

Prince winced as he tried to sit up. "I feel like my stomach was stabbed…" He looked down at the bandages wrapped around his torso. "Oh, right."

"You remember what happened, right?"

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the rest of the sleep out of his eyes. "The Shadow fled from the light and stabbed me. Then, you said something and I blacked out."

"About the light… Prince, how did you do that?"

"I—I don't know. I didn't feel like myself, then. I didn't want him to take you away from me." Prince looked at him with crystal-blue eyes. Percy could see that same fear he had when he found him in that cell. "If they hurt you—" He suddenly broke out into tears.

Percy pulled him into a hug, careful of the wound. "Prince, it's alright. I'm here. You don't have to be afraid about being alone or me leaving."

"B—but, what i—if—?"

"No, there is no 'what if,' Prince. You're here, I'm here, and we'll be okay." Percy always hated seeing the kid cry. He wanted to kill the Shadow for doing this. And Prince was so distraught that Percy decided not to scold him about following him on his mission. "I'm sorry."

"Fo—for what? You did no—nothing wrong."

"I let him hurt you. I should've been more responsible."

"But I'm the one who followed." Prince's tears had slowed and now he just looked sleepy.

"We'll talk again later. You should get some sleep." He stood up from the bed.

"No, wait. Someone's coming."

Percy halted. "Who? Good intentions or bad?"

Prince stopped to focus. He must've been a little weak from the blood loss. "Uh, good, I think. They're hopeful to talk to you."

There was a soft knock at the door. "Can we come in?" said a girl's voice.

"I'm going to pretend to be asleep," Percy whispered to Prince. "Tell them that I can't talk right now." He quickly climbed in the other bed and turned so he was facing away from Prince.

Sighing, Prince called for them to come in.

The door opened and Percy heard what he thought was a bleat. His stomach churned and he hid his emotions.

"Chiron said to bring you guys your dinner," said Grover.

"Thank you," piped Prince in a small voice. "Um, Percy's sleeping."

"Should we come back later?" the girl—Rachel—asked. Her tone sounded a bit let down.

"Uh…I don't know when he'll be up." His voice cracked at the end of that sentence. Percy felt bad that he was making him lie. He hated lying.

"Well, could you tell him that we've missed him and want to talk to him soon, please?" Percy felt guilt rise. He wanted to talk to them so much, but he didn't know what to say or what their reactions would be. He hated himself for being a coward.

"Yep, I will. Thanks for the food." Rachel and Grover went out the door, but Percy could feel their hesitation. Especially Rachel's. Percy didn't think they fooled her.

He sighed, sat up, and brushed a hand through his hair. Prince gave him a disappointed look. "I know, I know. That was very cowardly of me." Prince continued to look at him with the same look, his arms now crossed. "Okay, Prince, I get it! Just eat your food!"

The next day came fast and it was soon Capture the Flag. Percy licked his lips nervously. He was deep in the forest, waiting for the horn that started the game. To his left, Beatrix smirked in anticipation, her double-edged blade twirling dangerously in her fingers. On his right Trevor was expressionless as he held onto his spear. He had his black "I'm-ready-to-kick-butt" bandanna tied around his red hair.

Percy shook his head; letting his friends play was a bad choice. They take games way too seriously. And, technically, they had the unfair advantage.

They waited; the atmosphere tense. Their plan was set—traps ready and soldiers in position. Annabeth and the immortals were captains of the other team. Unfortunately for them, Percy knew Annabeth's strategies too well. Normally, she would have sent someone as a decoy, and a second group to sacrifice themselves. And while everyone was distracted, she or someone else would go for the flag. Usually it would be her to go after it because of her invisibility cap. But, this wasn't the case. She _knew_ Percy knew all her strategies. So Percy figured she would switch it up and try to get him confused. Good thing he was prepared for that.

There were about the same amount of campers as there were soldiers, which meant that the forest was full. Percy was almost worried that their plan wouldn't work because of the small size of the forest, but that changed when the tree nymphs offered to expand the forest under one condition: No harming or setting fire to the trees.

Percy didn't mind this, although it took away one element from his plan.

For several seconds, they waited…and waited…and waited, until finally, the horn sounded.

Immediately, the soldiers separated into four groups. Hunter led his group underground. He had opened a tunnel using his magic and brought twenty-some soldiers down different tunnels. If someone were to be standing over them, they would sink them into the tunnels and tie them up.

Jeremiah's group was different. They were actually going to run straight in the flag's direction, but not for it. Jeremiah was to manipulate the wind to push campers back and keep them at bay. They would even push them into some of Hunter's group's holes.

Beatrix's group was to curve around the forest instead of going straight. They were going to put fake tracks and make different noises to lead the campers off course. They were also going to be the deceiving group meaning they would 'accidentally' spill the 'plan' when campers were near.

Last group was Trevor's. Since he didn't have the powers the other leaders had, he was just going to take his soldiers quickly through the forest and actually get the flag. All of the campers should be busy with their obstacles, giving Trevor a clear path.

But if one possibly did get through all that, Percy was guarding the flag. Yeah, it was a smart move letting the injured person to guard the flag alone, but all of the other positions were filled. But that doesn't matter. It gave him what is known as the element of surprise. And he had a few tricks up his sleeve, too. Percy predicted this game would pass fairly quickly.

Leaning on his sword with his good arm, he watched the groups run—or in Hunter's case—go underground.

Trevor's soldiers had to stay behind for a couple minutes before running for the flag so the others could get everything set up. In the distance, Percy could already hear the clangs of weapons clashing. Trevor stood by Percy.

"You can never get tired of hearing that, can you?" his friend jested.

"Please," Percy rolled his eyes, "I'm more than used to that sound."

"It's like listening to someone breathing."

"You said it."

"How's the arm treating you?" Trevor changed the topic.

Percy shrugged, flexing his arm testily. "Still sore and stiff," he sighed, "but I'm warming up to it."

A hole opened in the ground, about a yard away, and a soldier poked out ten fingers, telling the other group they had ten seconds. Trevor clapped him on the shoulder. "Be prepared to use that arm, man. See ya." And with that, he and his soldiers rushed off, leaving a trail of dust.

So, Percy waited. He waited and did his best to keep himself entertained by solidifying the water in the air. Luckily, he still had his water abilities. Maggie had told him earlier that it was most likely because his power over water wasn't really a power, but more like a part of him. And even luckier for him: he knew so much more about his control over water than he did years ago. Chaos had taught him that having control over water was like having control over life itself. He discovered just how important water really was in everyday life.

Percy was able to change temperatures, solidify it, freeze it, and even use it to levitate objects. There were a few tricks, though, that Chaos had forbidden him from ever doing unless it was in a desperate situation—like, the-universe-is-gonna-blow-up desperate. Percy hadn't objected; the tricks were cruel and unusual.

_Chaos circled the kneeling Percy. This was the ninth day of his training, and his limbs were getting ready to fall off at any minute. The Creator pushed him too hard, but he would never complain to his face like that and be thought of as ungrateful. They were currently in a clearing in the forest, Percy awaiting orders patiently._

"_Perseus," Chaos began, "I've decided to set your physical training aside today, so there will be no climbing mountains or punching iron." Percy let out a breath of relief and slouched. "Now," continued Chaos, "we begin your mental training."_

_Percy held in his groan. "What, will I have to lift boulders with my mind?"_

"_Don't be crazy," he laughed. "That's next week."_

"_Ugh!"_

"_Today we're going to unlock the secrets of your water abilities."_

_Percy was suddenly interested. _That doesn't sound too bad, _he thought. "How?"_

"_I'll begin by teaching you the dangers." He commanded, "Close your eyes." Percy did so. "You're control over water can be a very reliable and resourceful power. But you need to acknowledge the cost and the damage using this power will bring."_

"_That's not making me any more enthusiastic," Percy said nervously._

"_It's not supposed to. Now, open your mind to the plants around you. Can you feel the water they possess?" Percy nodded silently. "Imagine taking all the moisture from them and bring it to yourself. Drain them and carry the water for your own energy." Percy followed his orders calmly, although he had a sickening suspicion rising up in his chest._

_He felt the water he stole travel to him and melt into his skin. Instantly, he felt energized and stronger. The water made him feel like he could race cheetahs, and fight all Titans coolly. It was a great feeling._

"_Now open your eyes," Chaos sad desolately. "See the effect of your power."_

_Percy snapped his eyes open and all the strength vanished with a single gasp. He wanted to shut his eyes tight again. What he saw was tragic. All plants in his general vicinity were withered, brown, molting, and drained from all life. What used to be a small group of beautiful Marigolds were now crumpled garbage. They sulked as if they had no reason to live. He had caused this. He had stolen their lives for his own selfish use. He was a monster._

"_That is the damage and coast of what having that kind of power can do." His universe-eyes scanned the scene, a distasteful expression plastered on his face like Percy's. "Imagine what it would do to a human being."_

_Percy swallowed. "I'm guessing a lot worse—fall to ashes worse._

"_Let us hope we shall never find out, hmm?"_

Percy's eyes shot open. For a second, he stared up at the canopy of leaves and the little patches of sky he could just make out behind it, trying to catch his breath. Then, as if zapped by lightning, he jumped to his feet, remembering where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. Trying to remain calm, he looked behind him. Thank gods; the flag was still there. The game was still going—he could hear the fighting off in the distance.

Cursing himself for being an idiot, he picked up his fallen sword. _I can't believe I let myself slip under again! _He mentally shouted at himself. _I have to get it under control or else I'll be as good as dead. _If he were to pass out during real war… Hades have mercy on him.

Maggie had told him that these "flashbacks" usually always meant something. Now he just has to figure out what. How was that memory linked to his future? How would it affect it?

A twig snapping brought his attention back to reality. Bringing Riptide up, he glanced vigilantly around. Looking in the direction of the sound, he concentrated. He used the water molecules in the air to feel movement. And, there seemed to be someone right behind him, reaching for the flag. Casually, so he wouldn't give off any signs of realization, Percy turned around. Nobody was there.*

Annabeth.

Of course, who else would it be?

She stopped moving when he looked in her direction. So, he turned away as if he didn't know she was there and felt her cautiously reach for the flag again. Her fingertips just barely grazed the pole when he froze the water near her to form chains around her ankles. Giving a startled yelp, she fell into the dirt. Chuckling playfully, Percy crouched by her side. With a flick of his wrist, he took the cap off her and onto the flagpole, making it instantly invisible. He also took her dagger from her sheath on her hip.

"How—" She stopped abruptly to spit dirt out of her mouth. He kind of felt bad for actually making her eat dirt. "How did you know I was there?"

"The water in the air gave you away."

"Clever," she appraised.

"Strategy worthy of Athena?" he joked.

Her reply was a brisk snort.

"So, how'd you get passed everyone?"

"If you let me go I could show you."

It was his turn to snort.

"I climbed the trees." She pointed to the one inches away from the flag. "Before I actually sent anyone off, I checked out what your soldiers were doing. I noticed some were going underground so I told the others to climb the trees."

Percy's eyes widened and he looked back at the trees. There could be demigods surrounding them in the trees right now. But when he used the water in the air, he found no one. Suddenly, he was tackled to the ground.

Annabeth put her knees on each, pried the dagger form his hand and brought it to his throat. Her ice chains were broken on the ground where she had been. She smirked at him with bright eyes. "One of the many rules of battle strategy: never let your guard down. What I told you about the trees was a lie."

He glared, but he was grateful her knee wasn't on his wound. Her proud face was inches from his; the loose curls of her hair tickled his face. She brought back her dagger like she was going to knock him out with it. Desperately, he flipped them over so he pinned her down.

She blinked, winded, with Percy looming over her, grinning. He stared at her in amusement as she squirmed, trying to break free.

Huffing, she gave up and glowered. "Since when did you get so strong, Seaweed Brain?"

"Since I began my years of training," he answered gloatingly.

Suddenly, Annabeth shoved him off her. He landed on his butt, his feelings a bit hurt. She smiled bashfully, and ripped the flag out of the ground. She shoved the cap in her pocket and began to run.

Percy hurried to his feet and blocked her from running crossing the border into the woods. She scowled and brought her dagger up in an arc. He easily parried and brought up Riptide in his own offense. Like he expected, she blocked it.

They continued their little fame of tag, Percy always getting the lead. He could tell it was a bit challenging for Annabeth because she was holding the flag in the other hand, but other than that it was a matched game. The other knew all of the other's moves. Honestly, Percy could've easily disarmed her and knocked her out, but his throbbing arm and Maggie's warning restraining him.

"Sorry about this, Percy," Annabeth said while she blocked another blow.

"What—OW!" He dropped to his knees to cradle his arm. It's throbbing intensified after she kicked it. While he was on the verge of blacking out, she took her opportunity to run. But Percy refused to go down that easily. Using the moisture from the air, he healed his arm hastily and ran after Annabeth.

She was fast—he'd give her that. She was almost at the creek; if she passed it, she won.

While running, Percy glanced at the battle around him. Jeremiah and his group were fighting against the Zeus kids. Their winds clashed together. A hole randomly opened and Beatrix pushed someone in. She laughed, but her smile dropped when she saw Percy. She gave him a freaked look that either said: _What happened—how'd she get the flag_? or _You idiot! How could you let her get the flag?_ _What were you thinking?_ He took it as a mixture of both, though they weren't much different. He ignored her and sprinted faster.

She was getting closer to the creek. An arrow whizzed at her head, but she ducked just on time. He had to do something. Fast. In an act of pure desperation, he vapor traveled (which was pretty much like Nico's shadow traveling) the rest of the distance to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her down.

Annabeth struggled, just a few inches from the creek. She even tried throwing the flag over, but he pried it from her hand. He didn't know if he could keep Annabeth down much longer. Thank gods when Trevor ran over the creek with the campers' flag.

"No!" Annabeth cried.

A conch horn sounded and Chiron galloped into view, Madison and Prince on his back. The kids had been so disappointed when they were told they couldn't play that Chiron let them watch everything with him. Prince met Percy's eyes and looked away, a blush on his face. Madison smirked knowingly, crossing her arms and Chiron raised an eyebrow at them. Only now did he realize the position they were in. Heat crept up his neck and he stumbled up, and offered Annabeth a hand. He was pleased to see a blush on her face as well.

"Soldiers of Chaos win!" Chiron announced. Percy's soldiers cheered while the campers groaned, but still clapped for them. The flag in Trevor's hand wavered and instead of the pegasus with CHB above it, there was a universe filled with stars and planets. "Your strategies were very...interesting. I enjoyed watching you compete."

"You guys are tough," grinned Hunter.

"Yeah," Jeremiah grunted. "Those Zeus kids put up quite the fight."

"Same to you," Jason nodded respectively.

Clarisse begrudgingly said, "You guys are alright."

"Annabeth was so close to the border, we could've won," Connor pouted.

"Yeah, Percy," Beatrix crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "How did she overpower you in the first place?" Her tone of voice implied that she already had an idea. Everyone waited for him to answer.

He shrugged. "She's stronger than she looks."

Before Beatrix could question any further, Chiron said, "We have time left for S'mores and some camp songs. Why don't we head there now, hmm?"

"Sounds like a great idea," Annabeth smiled gratefully. "Let's go now."

Annabeth and the rest of camp were sitting in the amphitheater, next to the campfire, enjoying a song sung by the Apollo campers. Some things just don't change. The soldiers were actually participating and goofing around like any other camper was. And they definitely seemed to be having a good time with their S'mores.

She glimpsed at Trevor and mouthed when she was sure no one was looking: _Where's Percy?_

Trevor smiled, showing off a thick layer of gooey marshmallow glop stuck in his teeth. He mouthed: _I have no clue._

Well, that's what Annabeth thought he said. It took a few heartbeats to decipher it. The first time, it looked like, _Oh, have to glue. _But that had made no sense. Why didn't he just shrug?

Annabeth nodded and told one of the Athenians she'd be back soon. The boy nodded and stuffed his face so deep into his S'more, it stuck to the brim of his glasses.

She headed off to where she thought Percy would be; anywhere near the ocean. And, after minutes of mindlessly strolling along the sand, she found a lone figure, skipping stones on Fireworks Beach. She walked to stand by him, staring upwards at the stars. "You know, Grover does a good job at being Lord of the Wild. I can see a lot more stars than I did, three-hundred years ago," she noted.

Percy threw another stone, skipping it three times, before it sank to the bottom. "I always knew he could do it."

"You should have seen him when you left." He stopped tossing. "He was devastated and went nuts looking for you. I was with him every step of the way. And so were many others. We went almost everywhere within the country. But, after all of our effort, we never did find you." She looked at him placidly. "Until now."

He sighed and chucked the rest of the stones into the water, leaving a good amount of ripples.

"Percy, you have to talk to them, they've been trying to get a chance to talk to you, but you're never there. They need some sort of closure. Something to tell them that it wasn't their fault you left, something that will make them feel better than they did a week ago, at least."

Percy played with the sleeve of his hoodie. "Believe me, that's all I want right now—closure, I mean. I really want to talk to them, too. I just…don't know how. What would _you _say to the people you abandoned a thousand years ago?"

She didn't have a good answer to that question. "I don't know. Maybe you should just explain things out first."

"How do you explain the unexplainable?"

"I doubt it's _that _unexplainable. But just start from the beginning," she advised.

He inclined his head to look at her, before breaking out into a grin. He was wearing his mask, so she could see his eyes. "I think I might just do that. Thanks, Annie."

She huffed at the nickname. "Sure. Just don't call me that." Annabeth started walking back to the amphitheater, knowing he'd follow. And he did, in fact, follow.

"Oh, come on, shouldn't you be used to the name by now?"

"You'd expect me to, huh?"

"Of course, I know a lot of people still call you that. Like Pinecone Face, for example."

"Are you just going to call everyone by their nicknames now?" she teased.

He shrugged. "Yes, Wise Girl, is that a problem?"

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. It's been so long since she's heard that nickname. After Percy disappeared, she had told everyone to stop calling her that because it seemed to have always triggered some sort of memory of him. But now, when it was Percy himself calling her that, standing right next to her, she felt at peace with the world. "Fine with me, Seaweed Brain."

Under his mask, she saw the corners of his lips twitch upwards in a goofy smile. "I can't tell you how much I've missed that nickname."

"I know the feeling."

"We came up with a lot of good nicknames back then."

"Yeah, it seemed like everyone at camp had their very own nickname."

"Death Breath and Zombie Dude for Nico," Percy laughed. "And Pinecone Face and Air Head for Thals."

"Air Head?" Annabeth raised an amused eyebrow. "Never heard that one before."

He grinned slyly. "I hope not. I just came up with it right now."

"I'm sure Thalia will just _love _it," she laughed.

"How is she?" he asked as he jumped over a log in the sand.

"Who, Thalia? She's great, still the lieutenant of the Hunters and against men. Same old- same old."

"And Nico?"

"He's been even gloomier since you've left, but he hasn't changed much either."

"Wait—" Percy held his arm out to stop her from continuing. "Do you see that?"

They were passed the Mess Hall and close to the lake. Percy was pointing to the amphitheater, where green smoke was fogging the ground around it. Annabeth knew what the smoke was about and she didn't like the reasons of it.

When they reached the amphitheater, Annabeth surveyed everything. The campers were still in their seats and staring, puzzled, at the red-headed Rachel, who was standing in front of all the campers. This confused Annabeth. They all knew Rachel was the Oracle and were used to her spewing out prophecies. Why did they look so stunned? She walked forward, and stood next to Chiron, who was also shocked into silence. That's when she figured out the reason to everyone's surprise.

Instead of Rachel having the misty-green eyes she always got from hosting the spirit of Delphi, she had black abysses with small, shiny, purple orbs floating inside. She stood stiff and rigid, as if in a trance.

"Uh-oh," Percy gasped from beside her.

Chiron didn't look away from Rachel, but he spoke to Percy. "Uh-oh? You have seen this before?"

"Yes," he said exasperatedly, "just wait. It takes a few seconds for them to stop arguing like children and settle."

As if on cue, Rachel shuddered and spoke in three, clear and ancient voices._ "We heard that, Perseus."_

"I know."

Chiron suddenly gasped in recognition. "_Di immortales!_ That can't be the Fates?" Gasps soared throughout the crowd like a wave.

"_Yes, we are," _Rachel/Fates hissed. _"And please, no bowing. We do not have time for formalities."_

"I mean this not disrespectfully, but, why are you—er, _hosting_ our Oracle?"

"_We came to give a prophecy the Oracle is not able to give."_

"Why couldn't she?"

Rachel's lips twitched and the Fates continued, amused, _"Because this certain prophecy does not have much Greek relations."_

No one commented on how absurd it all sounded; they all just looked disorderly. Well, everyone except for Percy. He just seemed intrigued.

The Fates shuddered again and spoke in a raspy voice:

_Travel to the beginning of Earth's might_

_And begin the journey through the twists and turns of the maze, _

_Beware the one seeking power's sight._

_Take the clue to the one wanting to prove his worth._

_And remember, to reach the final challenge:_

_Hope lies patiently at the original hearth._

And just like that, they were gone. Rachel swayed before falling to her left. Percy, who was the first one to break out of his stupor, caught her and gently laid her on the ground. "She's going to have such a massive headache in the morning," he mumbled sympathetically.

Campers began to shout crazily about the prophecy.

"What does it mean?"

"When will it begin?"

"Who's going to lead the quest?"

Chiron rammed his hoof loudly. "Settle down! Tomorrow, the immortals and I will discuss the matter—and Perseus, too, if he doesn't mind. Everyone, back to their respective cabins," he commanded with authority.

The campers grumbled and walked out of the amphitheater and to their cabins. A couple of Apollo kids carried Rachel back to her cave. Percy walked Annabeth back to the Athena Cabin.

"So, what do you think it was about?" Annabeth curiously asked, really wanting his opinion.

He pursed his lips. "I have some ideas, but I don't like the outcomes."

"How bad are they?"

"Well, they aren't necessarily bad, more like risky. All the chances are risky."

"Do you know what the whole thing means?"

"Sort of, but the first line makes me real uneasy. It was pretty obvious, though."

_Travel to the beginning of Earth's might_—it rang clearly in her head. "Yeah, it is. But the line that struck me funny was the one about the maze. It couldn't be the…Labyrinth, could it?"

He shook his head, shivering at the memory. "No, that's impossible. The Labyrinth is definitely destroyed, no doubt about that."

"That's a relief."

"But I don't really know what the maze is at all."

Annabeth gave him a sideways glance. "Since you're the adopted son of Chaos, the creator of _Earth _and many others, shouldn't you know everything about the planets?"

Percy grinned lopsidedly. "I should, but I don't. I know everything about the Earth, though, but every planet has their own hidden secrets."

She nodded, arriving at the Athena cabin. "I see. Well, goodnight, Seaweed Brain." Before she could comprehend what she was doing, she kissed him on the cheek. When she realized what she did, she jerked back in shock. "Oh gods, Percy. I'm sorry—I didn't mean to— I swear…"

He rubbed the back of his neck like he was uncomfortable. She felt really self-conscious now. "It's okay." He glanced away. "Well, goodnight." With that, he walked speedily away, not even giving her a sparing glance.

Annabeth groaned, about ready to beat herself for being so stupid. She didn't mean to kiss him—honest! Today reminded her so much of the old days that she actually felt like they were still dating. She prayed to all the gods that this didn't ruin their reforming relationship.

**A/N:**

**BOOM! That is the sound of your brain exploding from happiness that I've updated again! Um…nothing much else to say. Thoughts on the prophecy—or "my failed attempt to rhyme" is what I like to call it. Also, I didn't proof-read this so please tell me if your picked up on any mistakes. Read, Rate, and Review please!**

***Nobody was there…hehe, get it?**

**P.S. My prayers are towards those of the Boston Bombing. I pray for the families affected and for the injured. I also pray for the victims of the Fertilization Plant Explosion. What's happening to our world, guys? No one is safe anymore. Sorry for being pessimistic—I won't deny that I'm a cynic—but this is true, is it not? I'll recant this as soon as I see a real Paradise. Any suggestions where I might find one?**

—**WTTW (0,,,,,0) (guy with a whiskery mustache?)**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

(Percy's P.O.V.)

In his dreams that night, Percy found himself inside his father's secret chambers that were hidden underneath the palace. Chaos was sitting on a retro, black couch, twirling a small silver blade with a gilded tip between his middle and thumb fingers. Percy sat on a similar couch on the opposite side of Chaos who continued to gaze curiously at the weapon.

Percy waited patiently. He knew that his father would speak when he wanted to. So he waited.

"Perseus…" Chaos trailed. "Do you know what this is?" He handed him the blade.

"Is it a sword?" Percy played. Chaos's mood wasn't one of amusement at the moment. Taking note of this, Percy examined every inch of the lethal weapon. His training had taught him how to identify any weapon from close examination. "It's a six and a half inch blade forged on the planet Elyopix of Sector Two. The strongest blacksmith of the G'hildien tribe forges a blade like this each year to signify his strength and power over his skill.

"It is created from the rare Moonshine rock found deep within the Azki temples and is tipped with the tribe's representing color for respect." Percy shrugged. "Is there a reason why you wanted to show me this?"

"Yes, actually." Chaos took the weapon from his son. "This was found at the crime scene."

"Crime scene?" Percy was suddenly worried. "What happened? Did something go wrong? Already?"

His father held up a patient hand. "While you were gone, we found a trainee from Sector 11 with this blade lodged in his chest." He noticed Percy's horrified expression. "Relax, he lived. But he can't remember what happened. All he remembers is going to the town's library and seeing a man."

Percy took all this in with an open mind. "And he didn't see what the man looked like?" Chaos shook his head and Percy ran a hand through his hair. "Wow, they really mean business," he mumbled to himself.

"Yes, never underestimate them. They're always planning; always on the move; never doing nothing," said a voice behind them. Percy turned around just in time to see a man melt out of the shadows in a child-of-Hades sort of way. Red eyes of a Shadow was staring right back at him.

In an instant, Percy had his sword drawn and the monster pinned against the wall. "Who are you?" he demanded. "How did you get here?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," mocked the intruder.

"Percy, let him be. He's my guest," Chaos said.

Percy stopped his glaring for a moment to look back-and-forth between his serious father and the smirking Shadow. He looked at his hands and realized that he was actually _touching _the monster. But how was that possible?

"Oh, please. I'm _letting _you touch me," the Shadow said as if it read his mind. "You're not anything special."

Percy didn't really like this guy's attitude. So, for good measure, he punched him in the gut. Hey, might as well abuse the fact that he can touch him, huh? The Shadow crumpled, clutching his stomach and cursing at Percy like a horse.

"Perseus!" Chaos reprimanded.

"Sorry," Percy said, not sounding apologetic at all. "You know him?"

"Yes," croaked the Shadow. "We're old _friends_."

Percy looked at his father as if to say _Care to explain? _Chaos sighed. "Percy, this is Blake. Blake, this is Percy." Percy gave Blake a once-over.

Blake looked a few years older than Percy's physical age of eighteen. He had the appearance of any other Shadow, but he looked a little bit more…_human_. His hair was a visible dark brown instead of a Shadow's traditional black and his features were more genuine, like he was more human than a shadow. And although his eyes were red, they looked more controlled.

"So how do you know each other?" Percy curiously asked Chaos.

His father sighed and motioned for the couches. "You might want to sit down for this, because it's a long story."

Percy was very interested now. He gave Blake a sideways-glance and sat on the couch in front of his father. He gestured for Chaos to continue. Blake leaned against the wall next to Chaos's couch.

"Okay, Percy, I'm going to be blunt," Chaos said, "Blake is your brother."

* * *

*Time Skip*

* * *

Percy walked into the Big House with his father right behind him. That private chat with Chaos made him late. And he really wasn't in a good mood since he literally had no sleep. Plus, he didn't get any breakfast. Inside, all the immortals were sitting around the Ping-Pong table. They were laughing at something Trevor said. Then, they noticed the two of them.

The campers all scrambled up to bow, but it was sloppy since there wasn't much room.

"I'm not the gods, children," Chaos said behind Percy. "Formality isn't a favorite of mine."

The demigods sat back down with nervous looks. Chaos sat in the remaining chair, while Percy leaned up against the wall. Percy yawned.

"Nice of you to join us, Percy," Beatrix joked.

Percy gave her a look. He wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Not in the mood, Trixie."

She held up her hands in surrender. "So why'd you put Percy in a Deep Sleep?" she asked Chaos. Deep Sleep—don't let the name fool you. While in Deep Sleep, you never actually get sleep, Percy being an example.

"We needed to discuss some things important," Chaos answered, clearly not going to get into details. "It's not my place to tell, anyway."

Trevor and Beatrix looked at Percy. He sighed and lifted up the hood of his cloak to hide his face. "Nothing. Could we please just finish this meeting?"

Trevor and Beatrix glanced at the other in concern.

Annabeth cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "So, the prophecy goes like this: Travel to the beginning of Earth's might_. _And begin the journey through the twists and turns of the maze." Beware the one seeking power's sight. Take the clue to the one wanting to prove his worth. And remember, to reach the final challenge: Hope lies patiently at the original hearth.

Grover spoke nervously. "Wait, the maze thing isn't the Labyrinth…is it?"

Percy shook his head. "No. It's not possible; the Labyrinth is gone."

"Then do you know what it actually is?" Travis asked curiously.

It was Chaos who answered. "Long ago, I hid something to keep it out of the wrong hands. I hid it at the center of the Earth, and put up a maze and traps to keep people away."

"So we send people to go to the center of the earth?" Chris asked.

"That _totally _sounds safe." Leo rolled his eyes.

"But what was the thing you hid?" wondered Jason.

"A star," Chaos said. "A special and powerful one."

"Star? What is a star doing at the center of the Earth?" asked Trevor, flabbergasted.

"It was placed under protection from certain greedy family members of mine. It was once a birthday present for Nyx, before her life force glued itself to her tree." He looked at Thalia. "Sort of how like you were once a pine tree."

The daughter of Zeus blinked in response.

"Wait a minute," said Hazel. "Nyx was a Primordial. And she wasn't the only one?"

Chaos shook his head. "No, there were many others. They have all faded or passed their life force."

"And you haven't passed or faded?" Nico asked, not unkindly. Just curious.

"He can't," Percy spoke up. "His life force is connected to the Void. He cannot fully fade unless the Void does and vice versa."

"And if the Void or Chaos fades," Trevor grimaced, "we fade, too. Like we never existed."

"Does that mean your life force is connected to the Void, too?" asked Annabeth.

Trevor leaned on the table, using his I-know-all tone. "The Void is everywhere and nowhere. And we live in it. So, if it were to just disappear, where would we be? Nowhere or everywhere? We certainly wouldn't be dangling in the middle of nonexistent space."

Annabeth nodded, processing this with narrowed eyes. Percy knew how she felt. He asked a lot of questions when he was new to the Void, and the answers hadn't made sense at the time. Then, he had to really think outside the box.

"So, when you are connected to the Void, you can only fade if it fades with you. And it can only fade with you?" Connor asked, looking very confused by the conversation.

"Sort of," Beatrix shrugged. "Basically, if you're connected, like Percy and Chaos are, you can only fade if the Void does. They can live forever if they and the Void are stable to. And the citizens of the Void can die freely and go to whatever afterlife they believe in, because they aren't connected."

"You're connected to the Void, man?" Jason said to Percy.

He nodded. "Yeah. It goes with being the son of Chaos. And because there are two connected, both will fade if the Void or Chaos disappears."

"Will the Void fade if just you do?"

"No, my connection isn't _that_ strong."

"How did you become his son, anyway?" Leo wondered aloud.

Percy lifted his sleeve to show a swirl mark on his wrist. "When I was offered position of assassin, I had to have some sort of relation to Chaos. So, he adopted me in a way. Poseidon is still my biological father somehow, but that's kind of strange considering he has no DNA. Being adopted is also how I became connected to the Void."

"And," Trevor added excitedly, "he's supposed to have these awesome universal powers!" he crossed his arms and pouted, losing all excitement. "But he won't show me."

"He can't," Chaos said. "The temptation of magic is very powerful."

"And it takes away energy, so if I used a lot, then the magic will take over my strength. It could consume me and I won't know my actions," Percy spoke.

Beatrix cringed. "That hasn't happened before, has it?"

He hesitated. "I…don't know. Has it?" He turned to his father.

Chaos looked up at the ceiling, then back down. "Maybe." He said nothing else. That made Percy worried. Had he really let magic consume him to where he did something horrible? He couldn't remember. And he actually didn't even want to know. "We should get back to the prophecy."

"Agreed," approved Chiron who was rolling into the room in his wheelchair. "I just finished speaking with the gods. I asked if they knew of anything that could help us. They said that they couldn't interfere, just like any other prophecy."

"Of course," grumbled Clarisse.

"Don't be too hard on them, child," Chiron sympathized. "They're just as confused by the prophecy as we are. Please go on, Annabeth."

"Beware the one seeking power's sight," Annabeth continued.

"Probably just Venom or something," Beatrix said, waving off the matter. Some campers nodded, having been told of the main enemy.

"Take the clue to the one wanting to prove his worth. And remember, to reach the final challenge: Hope lies patiently at the original hearth."

"So apparently there's a clue we have to take to someone," Leo commented. "That one might be obvious, hopefully."

"But in the last line, it refers to hope as if it's an animate object," Annabeth pointed out. "And I think it's a little more than personification."

"What's the original hearth?" Beatrix pursed her lips. Chaos shrugged, so they turned towards Chiron. Percy knows that Chaos actually knows what it is but just won't tell them. Percy understood why—you can never know too much of a prophecy.

The old centaur sighed. "I have an idea, but I mustn't say now." Chaos nodded in respect.

"Aw, but Chiron!" whined Connor.

"Something's strange," noticed Thalia. "Prophecies are never this east to crack."

"It may seem easy to put together now, but wait until you have to live it. Nothing will make sense then," Percy said sensibly.

"Right, now I believe there is a matter of who will be leading this quest," Chaos said.

"Yes," Chiron nodded. "Is there anyone up for the challenge?"

Some hands immediately shot up—people with experience like, Jason, Piper, Nico, Leo, Thalia, Annabeth (of course), Beatrix, and Trevor. All of Percy's friends. Percy didn't raise his hand.

"Not up for the adventure, Perce?" Beatrix teased.

Percy said nothing, deep in thought. He was thinking of the vision in the pond he saw two months ago, and his latest dreams. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to leave Prince by himself. He's been having that same vision/dream and it always ended in that bright light. Percy knew that Prince would eventually be involved with everything, but not at the moment. Besides, he still doesn't like quests much.

Someone kicked him in the shin. "Ow! What, Trevor?"

"We called your name four times, man. You need to stop worrying about Prince."

"I wasn't—," he began.

"Dude, you had that brotherly/fatherly aura around you again." Percy rolled his eyes, although they couldn't see it, and asked why they needed his attention.

"We think that because the prophecy isn't of Greek relations, only soldiers should go. For safety reasons." Trevor glanced nervously at the campers.

Percy looked at them, and noticed that they weren't really happy campers about the idea. Thalia looked mad, and so did some others. A few looked like they dodged a bullet, but Annabeth looked almost pained.

"We'd be fine," Nico objected. "We're _immortal_."

"Even immortals can die," Chiron said. "Besides, you do not know the enemies you're up against. It might be smarter and safer to let the people who know what they're doing to do their job."

"But then what's the point of them being here?" Clarisse voiced unkindly. "If they got this under control, why do they need to stay?"

"Clarisse," Chiron scolded.

"We're here, because you need protection," Percy said in a stoic intone. "As long as Venom and his men are based here, this planet is in danger. They will rid this planet of all riches, medicine — anything that will be of use to them — until nothing's left but rundown buildings and dust." He could _feel _everyone suppress a shiver.

"All right, then," Trevor broke the silence. "So…everyone's okay with it now?"

No one objected.

Percy nodded. "Who'll be going?"

"Beatrix, me, and you," answered Trevor, not looking at him.

"What?!" His cool and collect measure melted then, and he looked at Chaos. "Why me? Why couldn't you bring Jeremiah or something?"

Chaos shrugged. "It's the leader's decision."

Percy stared at his red-headed friend, somehow knowing that Trevor was the leader. He understood why he was the leader of the quest. A chance to prove himself. "And why did you pick me?"

"I picked you 'cause you seem to know what we're dealing with the best, and have the most experience." Trevor glanced at Beatrix, who was giving him the stink eye. "And I picked Trixie here because of her power. And she'd no doubt kill me if I didn't pick her anyway."

Beatrix beamed. "Yup."

"Then it's decided!" Chaos said, getting up. "You should probably leave in a day. As soon as you're ready. And Percy," he turned to his son, "_I_ cannot help you from this point. You will be on your own."

Percy sighed, understanding the meaning. "I know. Bye, Dad." A portal opened and Chaos stepped through with a last good-bye. Percy sat in silence for a second before he said, "Okay, I need to have a talk with the campers. Alone." He looked pointedly at Beatrix and Trevor.

Beatrix frowned and was about to protest, but Trevor dragged her out of the Big House, knowing what it was all about. Chiron smiled at the campers, patted Percy's shoulder, and then followed the two out.

Percy took a breath before reluctantly turning to his old friends. Almost all had expecting expressions. Then some, like Nico, were expressionless.

"Okay, guys," Percy said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know this is long overdue…"

"You have some explaining to do, mister." Katie crossed her arms.

"Why have you been avoiding us?" Thalia questioned.

"Because," Percy continued smoothly, "I was afraid of you reactions. But I'm not anymore. And I really want to say I'm sorry. What I did was really impulsive — I didn't think it through thoroughly — but I don't regret my decision. I have a new life, with new friends, and a new family. I couldn't give that up for anything. I've really missed you guys, though. A lot."

"We should be sorry, Percy," Annabeth said. Clarisse gave her a look that said, _We should?_

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "We should."

"We should've been there for you," Hazel said.

Percy blinked. He had prepared himself to be the apologiz_er _not the apologiz_ee_.

"Yeah, if you were having a problem at camp, you could've came to us," Jason added to the sorry fest.

"You were welcomed in the Underworld anytime," Nico said.

"What, guys?!" Clarisse exclaimed. "It was _him _who left _us. _Why are we apologizing?"

"Because it was our fault he left in the first place," Annabeth glared.

"No, it was Dustin's."

"Whom you sided with, right?"

"So did you!"

"But I already apologized."

The daughter or war crossed her arms and scowled. "It was still his fault for leaving."

Percy was actually warmed by this scene. The fact that Clarisse was so wound up about it proved that she cared. He wasn't going to hold it against her…at the moment. "Another reason why I left is because Chaos told me I'd be able to protect you if I joined him."

"But you just left, without any explanation or a note," Piper said softly.

"I've never really left. I was always there for the big things, just never seen."

"When?" Grover wondered.

"A lot of times. Marriages, yours and Juniper's, Piper's and Jason's, and I was there for other important things, including some birthdays."

"No way!" Leo grinned. "You got me the phoenix, didn't you?"

Percy grinned back. "Yep. I knew you'd love her. And I was also there when Annabeth finished Olympus and—"

"Okay," Thalia raised her hand in a giving up gesture. "We get it, Kelp Head."

He chuckled. "Good. Any other important questions?"

"Have you spoken to Poseidon, yet?" Grover asked. "Because you really should, he's never been the same since you left."

Percy shifted in his seat and fidgeted with the trim of his hood. "I will before we leave."

"Why do you wear that hood, man? Is it part of the assassin gig?" Connor asked suddenly.

He glanced at Annabeth. She had a faraway look in her eyes and she stared off into space. When she felt him looking at her, she smiled. "Yeah, it's part of the gig, but it's also to hide something." He didn't explain what. He didn't really have to.

"Percy, know that, even though it's been at least a thousand years, that we will always be here and call you family." It was Frank who said this.

Percy looked up and met the eyes of all his old friends, with a wide smile forming. "I know."

Later that day, Percy took a walk around camp. He just wanted a last good look at it before he was sent off on the quest the next day. He made his way around the camp, astonished at its continuous growing size. Campers gave him different looks as he passed, but he chose to ignore them.

He walked to the Hephaestus cabin; he had a special request from them. It was very important if a battle was to begin while the three of them were gone. Percy knocked on the cabin's door, and a girl with her hair pulled back by a black bandanna answered the door.

"Is Leo here?" Percy asked, getting straight to the point.

"Why? What's your business?" asked the girl incredulously.

"I need a favor done."

She eyes him, nodded, and then closed the door. A metallic grinding noise was heard and a few seconds later, a Latino elf with a mischievous smile opened the door. "Well, if it isn't Prince Percy."

Said person scowled. "You've been talking to Trevor?"

Leo shrugged slyly. "He's a cool guy. What's up?"

"I need a favor from the cabin."

"A favor? Do we get paid?"

"You don't get paid for favors, Leo."

He pouted. "That's too bad."

"I need you and the Hecate cabin, along with some of my soldiers, to create a substance to put on your weapons."

"Explain more, please."

Percy took a breath. "There are these certain monsters that might attack while we're gone. They're called Shadows. They are made out of black magic and shadows. The monsters can't be killed by anything. We cannot kill them, but they can kill us."

"Well, what do you want me to do about this? They seem pretty unbeatable."

"We need something that _can _kill them. And the only thing that can kill shadows is light. Basically, I need you to create something to put on your weapons that is made of pure light. Something that will permanently get rid of them."

The son of Hephaestus scratched his chin and crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I think we may be able to do it. With who, again?"

"The Hecate cabin and some of my soldiers."

Leo nodded. "Alright. If it can help with this war, no problem."

"Thanks, man. It means a lot." Percy grinned.

He shrugged. "All we really need is a recipe for magic, Shadow-killing goo."

"I'm sure you can come up with something."

After that, he decided to tell Prince what happened at the meeting—the prophecy, everything. But, as he approached the infirmary, he stopped at the sound of soft voices. He silently opened the door as to not interrupt the conversation. Percy hid behind the corner of the wall and listened to the voices. It was Prince and Madison. To keep himself unnoticed by prince, he smothered all of his emotions.

"—what feeling?" He heard Madison say.

"I don't know," Prince answered. "It feels like I'm being drawn to something. Like, something is calling me. It's weird, and now I sound like a total weirdo."

"And the dream? What happened in it?"

"Oh, I was in a bright, white room…and there was another me standing in front of me. I looked like me, but the way I acted wasn't me. I was really smart and glowing and I acted so Zenlike—like there was peace in the world. I just seemed so…calm."

"Did you say anything? Er, the other you, I mean."

"Well, I couldn't speak, but the weird me could. He only said, 'I'm waiting.' Then, I woke up."

"Creepy."

"Sure felt like it."

There was a moment of silence, the Madison said, "What so you think it means? Is it, like, a sign or something?"

"I'm not sure. It might be. Should I tell Percy?"

A small sigh was heard. "Do you want to? Can he help you?"

"I don't know…something is telling me that I should keep this to myself. So you have to promise that you won't tell a single person. _Pinky _promise."

"Okay, I pinky promise I won't tell a soul." Percy knew they wrapped their pinkies around one other's by the pause.

"Thanks, Madison. You're my best friend." He could tell they hugged.

Percy reached, opened the door, then closed it again, so they would think he just walked in. He acted as if he hadn't heard a word as he came in, grinning as he pulled down his hood. He saw them facing each other, Madison standing and Prince sitting on the bed. They looked up at him. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Nothing," Prince said, picking at his blanket. Percy could tell Prince felt guilty for keeping a secret. "You?"

Percy pursed his lips. "I need to talk to you. It's important."

"Did something happen?" Madison asked frantically.

"Why are you nervous?" Prince questioned.

Percy exhaled deeply. "Listen, I have to leave for a few days."

"What? Why?" Prince stammered.

"Beatrix, Trevor, and I are going on a quest to center of the Earth." It was better to be blunt about it.

The kids stared at him in confusion. "A quest? What's that?" Madison pondered.

"It's where a group of people go off on a…adventure. We have to find something before Venom does. We'll probably be gone for a while."

"So you're just going to leave? Again? On _another _dangerous mission? Just like that?" Prince rambled, his now pale eyes filled with understanding. "And you won't take me, will you?"

He looked down, hating the truth. "I couldn't bring you even if I wanted to. You're still hurt, and I can't risk any more happening to you—I'd never forgive myself."

"I understand." The boy sniffled. "I don't want you to leave."

"Prince," Percy bit his lip, hating the words he was about to say, "there's a chance that I might not come back…"

"No! You will come back!"

"You can never be sure, and I'm only saying there's a _chance_. But, I want you to promise me something."

Pain rippled in Prince's eyes. "What?"

Percy sat next to Prince on the bed and laid his hands on the boy's shoulders, staring him right in the eye. "Be prepared, okay. If something goes wrong, be prepared. And stay safe."

"I will," Prince said sadly, then hugged him tightly. "I'm gonna miss you. When are you leaving?"

Percy hugged back. "Probably early tomorrow."

Madison leaned over and joined in their hug. "Be safe, Mr. Jackson."

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her too.

After he left, he walked down to the beach, deciding to avoid going to Cabin Three. He knew the picture were still up and figured that if he saw all the memories, he'd start bawling like an Aphrodite kid when their designer clothes got mud on them. If anyone saw the assassin of Chaos clutching a photo to his chest and crying his heart out…well, it wouldn't be good for his reputation. So he continued to the beach, knowing there was still something to cross off his _To Do List_.

Percy went ankle-deep into the water, feeling sudden strength surge through him. He also felt pathetic that he had to rehearse what he was going to say, and it was worse because of his headache.

Using his power over the element, he made mist rise and threw a drachma, after a long hesitation, into the rainbow. "O' Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Poseidon in Atlantis." He'd missed those words.

The mist swirled and he saw the throne room of his father's restored underwater palace. His father was in a deep conversation with Triton, his face crinkled in thought. Triton's shark eyes wandered to Percy and the two-tailed merman gasped. The sea god, confused, turned around to see his missing son. A godly smile brightened his face. "Perseus?"

Percy smiled awkwardly, looking around the palace throne room. "Hi…"

Triton scowled and sniffed disgustedly. "He has not changed or became any more impressive since I've last seen him."

_I could say the same towards your attitude, _Percy thought.

"Hush, Triton. Percy, what brings you here?"

"I came to apologize," Percy replied.

"It's about time." Triton scrunched his nose.

Poseidon frowned at his heir. "Triton, could you please go ask Delphin if the plans are ready to be set in motion?" Triton glanced at the two but haughtily swam off in the end. "Percy—," Poseidon began.

"Dad," Percy interrupted. It was weird calling him Dad again. "I'm sorry. I should have told you what happened and I tried but couldn't get a hold of you/ I'm sorry if you stressed over me. I didn't mean to really hurt anyone, honest."

"I know, son. I do not believe that is ever your intention. I cannot hold your choice against you." He then frowned. "But this is not the only reason you called me?"

Percy shrugged sheepishly. "I came to tell you that I was going on another quest."

"Another quest? Already, child?" Poseidon raised an eyebrow and gripped his trident. "And you believe you will not be returning." He didn't mean it as a question.

The son of the Sea God looked down, knowing that this was the truth. "Yeah. I don't think I have enough luck left to live another quest."

"It was never luck that you lived those quests. And are you not immortal?"

"It's like the Hunters of Artemis—I can fall in battle. Besides, my powers are temporarily gone, and I doubt they'll return before the quest."

"I have total faith that you'll survive. But…" The god took in a breath. "If you do not survive this quest, I want you to know, that even if you are no longer my son, I couldn't be prouder.

Percy swallowed hard. "You'll always be my father, and I am proud to call you that."

Poseidon smiled warmly at his son, and Percy could clearly see the pain he had caused. He could see powerful, grieving waves crash onto rocks and beaches, tearing down ships and crushing submarines in anguish. He saw guilt and fear and resentment. Much more emotion rested in his father's eyes, filling Percy with terrible sadness. Of course he knew that his father had grieved all those years—but it's such a horrible feeling knowing that you're the reason of it all.

"So," Poseidon said, grinning, "Chaos's assassin and adopted son, huh? How is that?"

Percy laughed and spent the next half hour catching up with his dad. After they said good-bye and ended the IM, Percy turned around to head for lunch. He was so hungry because he missed breakfast. But when he turned around he saw a miffed daughter of Athena behind him.

Annabeth's arms were crossed and her eyebrows raised. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Percy copied her stance and raised his own eyebrows. "And you didn't check the beach first?"

She walked down to him. "Check the obvious last."

"Ah, I see." He nodded with a lopsided smile.

"So that was Lord Poseidon you were talking to?"

"Yeah, I figured it was about time to explain myself."

"Wanna come to lunch with me? 'Cause I'm super hungry." Percy started to walk past her, but she grabbed his wrist. Instincts told him to twist her wrist and tense up for a fight, but he didn't of course. When he looked into her eyes, he remembered the kiss on the cheek, and he had to bite down a cheeky smile. "What?"

"It's about the quest…"

He glanced at the dining pavilion, his stomach growling. "Yeah?"

"If you think you're leaving on a quest without me, you're crazier than Hera." She crossed her arms again, a defiant look in her eyes.

"Annabeth," he tried.

"No, Percy. Don't even bother explaining to me how dangerous or risky it would be for me to come. I'm immortal and I think I can handle myself."

Percy wondered if she was ever going to take a breath. "Anna—"

"Plus, you might need me and my knowledge. What if there's a riddle or something that you get stuck? Then where would you—"

"Annabeth!" He gripped her forearms and clamped her mouth shut with a hand, knowing that it would not only tick her off, but make her be quiet, also. She glared at his hand, then at him. "I was going to ask you to come anyway."

Her eyes widened by a fraction of the inch.

"If I remove my hand, do you promise that you won't start rambling again, no matter how cute you are when you do?" She narrowed her eyes, but he felt the blush on her cheeks. And that was his intention. She nodded mildly. He removed his hand.

Feeling like his stomach was eating itself, he held out his arm like the gentleman he was. "Shall we head to lunch, then?"

Without any words, she wrapped her arm around his, still looking annoyed. When they were halfway to the dining pavilion, Annabeth paused and said, "Cute, huh?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "I don't remember saying that."

"_Right_," she droned, but let it go. He chuckled, though his headache grew worse and he didn't like the reason why.

**A/N:**

**Sorry that this is a late update. I meant to update sooner, but I've been so caught up in our move. I really hate moving. Partly because of the labor, mostly because I've moved at least eight times in my lifetime. Just wanna live somewhere permanently, you know? I'm such a baby; some of you might have it worse than me, so why am I complaining? It's also late because I've been reading…a lot. I mean, I think it's unhealthy how long I stay up to read. That's the good thing about summer vacation, I can wake up at noon! But I'm soooooo tired right now that my words are slurred and I keep taking little naps on my laptop's keyboard, accidentally pressing buttons and creating whole rows of kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk. **

**I don't know where I went with this chapter. I seriously have no idea where Blake came from. I was just staring at the computer screen, thinking of names I liked and suddenly I was typing. I cut it off where Chaos says Blake is his brother purposely. I'll add the next part in the next chapter 'cause I didn't want this one to get too long.**

**Opinions? Comments? **

**The reviews were nice last chapter, thank you so much. Jabberwocky1182 (decades eventually lead up to a thousand years, right?) reviewed like five times, so special thanks to you. XxxcOokiEmOnsterxxX00 gave me a reaaallly long and flattering review, so another special thanks.**

**To that guest who offered Australia: YES! Love Australia, and not just because Heath Ledger is my favorite actor. *sniffle* Bless his soul. **

**I'm going to take a nap n—Zzzzzzzz—WTTW [*o*] (star struck) **


	14. AN

**Guys, it happened again. **

**All the chapters I've written for my stories so far have been deleted. There were some technical difficulties and I had to restore my device that held everything I write. I had a flash drive to save all my stuff, but because I'm a freaking idiot that can't even remember to feed a goldfish, I lost it. **

**You have no idea how bad I feel about this guys. I'm beating myself over it. It was just—I'm just so sorry, okay? I have horrible luck; how did I not see this coming?**

**And what makes it worse is that it wasn't just the stories I currently have posted that I lost. It was also the stories that I was **_**planning**_** on putting on FanFiction. If you're interested to see what they were you could read my profile. I felt so good about those stories; I had everything planned. Now it'll take me months to remember what I'd written. And it won't nearly be as good as the original. **

**I'm putting my stories on hiatus, obviously. I'm **_**so sorry**_**. I just need time to get them back on their feet. But over time, if I can't get my inspiration and motivation back, I'll delete my account, along with my stories. I'll put up an A/N if it comes to that. I'll give the story three weeks, but after that A/N then it's gone. But that's only if.**

**I'm sure if I do that, I'll eventually come back under a new account. Maybe I might put up the same stories again. I really don't want to give up on The Half-Bloods...**

**Again, I'm forever sorry, but I felt like this day was going to come soon anyway—deleted writings or not.**

**You've been the most patient and sweetest viewers. I won't forget that. I would have never gotten this far without you. Thank you, but I guess I just wasn't meant to be an author. Again, I'm sorry if I disappointed or let you down. I disappoint myself too.**

**Forever Sorry — Word To The Wise**


End file.
